Opinion: Let’s Make A Deal About Those Jennifer Lawrence Nude Photos, Ok?

You may have already heard today that a 4chan hacker allegedly leaked nude photos of attractive female celebrities on the internet. Said celebrities include Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and Ariana Grande. Before you fire up that incognito window in Chrome to look at said leaks, let’s all take a second to think about where you stand on a few issues. It’s time for us to make a deal about those nude photos.

Image: Jeff Kravitz / Getty

For those who are out of the loop, nude photos of the aforementioned celebrities were leaked on 4chan overnight, with the alleged leaker reportedly in possession of loads more images of other female celebrities. The so-called “master list” is being circulated online, and some 4channers are even asking for donations to leak additional video footage.

We won’t link to the photos. We won’t link to the 4chan thread or the Imgur thread or the Reddit posts about any of these photos. Not just because it’s wrong and will get us sued, but because privacy is a real thing that should be respected by all.

You can accuse me in the comments of being too sensitive, or a closet feminist, or whatever the internet is calling people who stand up for the right to privacy these days, but this should go beyond simple name calling. It’s about everyone having the right to privacy.

Even in 2014 where the culture of invasive paparazzi and rumour-mongering about celebrities runs rampant: everyone should feel like they can do things in the privacy of their own bedrooms and not fear them being splashed across the internet.

Host of The Feed and Download This Show, Marc Fennell said it best this morning.

If you’ve ever objected to your privacy being violated by tough policies like metadata collection, or mass surveillance, or Facebook toying with user emotions in news feeds or whatever, you probably shouldn’t look at these photos — for risk of being a massive hypocrite.

Everyone has the right to privacy, even celebrities.

Even if you think they’re just still images and can’t hurt anyone, consider Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s words:

These aren’t just photos of people in movies. They’re people who are most likely horrified that stuff they thought was private is now all over the goddamn internet.

So now that you’ve read all that, let’s you and me make a deal. Right here and now.

If you read this and then go and look at leaked celebrity nude photos, you have to promise the internet that you’ll never complain about policies like data retention, NSA mass surveillance or any of that sort of shit ever again.

Furthermore, you must take to the comments section and upload your own nude photo, because sharing is caring. Mmm, k?


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