How much do the users of Reddit want to see naked pictures of Jennifer Lawrence, Selena Gomez, Kate Upton, and dozens of other female celebrities? If The Fappening is any indication, there are at least 100,000 people just sitting at their computers waiting for more nude photos to be uploaded to the internet.

For a short period of time today the subreddit (http://www.reddit.com/r/thefappening) was taken down, only to be restored a short time later.

Realizing that many people wanted live updates of the hacked nude photos, the following URL went viral: http://www.reddit.com/live/thwsx6wkbysn. That URL posts real-time updates as pictures, gifs, and potentially even some yet to be released videos, are upload to the internet. The board is being moderated by Reddit user NotSafeForWhales. That user account appears new with only 89 link karma and 53 comment karma.

According to a recent report from the live broadcast, the leaker has more than 2GB worth of files that they may release to the public for free.

At the time of this post, The Fappening has 101,276 live viewers.

In many ways The Fappening has been fueled along with the help of Victoria Justice.

Despite mounting evidence that many of the pics being released are real, including some confessions from female victims, Justice has went out of her way to deny several recently released pics. It is alleged that her pics were lifted from her personal Apple iCloud account.

Perez Hilton came under fire after he released many of the uncensored pictures, but he quickly deleted the pics and sent out an apology tweet:

In the meantime, Jennifer Lawrence has promised to sue any website that posts her photos in a warning she released on Monday afternoon.

While many of The Fappening photos were removed from bigger publications, anonymous posting networks such as 4Chan have allowed the photos to circulate. At the time of this posting the Live Reddit URL I shared above is ripe with incoming photos and GIFs. The OP for the board has even promised to released a compromising Jennifer Lawrence video, although that video has not yet surfaced.

An official police and FBI investigation is underway, but at this time how the pics were obtained is still only a guess. Some of the female targets claim to be Google Android users, which might rule out the Apple iCloud claim.

If the hacker is looking for attention and admiration from a subset of internet users they seem to be getting it. The newest update on the live Reddit feed, at the time of this story, has users requesting a “full dump” of the hacked files. That full dump could include hundreds of photos and videos from dozens of female celebrities.

The Fappening has quickly led to other trends on Twitter. Earlier today I posted about the Twitter trend #IfMyPhoneGotHacked. That term has been spread throughout the social network with users both making fun of the leaked photos, and lamenting what would happen if their phones were hacked.

While internet users are mostly focusing on getting a glimpse of the naked female celebrities, some publications have been quick to point out that the real issue here is a lack of security and a violation of privacy. Even if the pictures were fully clothed, someone was still able to somehow find a major security breach and exploit it for their own purposes. What might be most scary is that we still don’t know where or how that breach occurred.

If The Fappening teaches us nothing else, it is that there are at least 100,000 voyeurs who really need to find a new hobby. Thank you internet for creating a much more creepy version of couch potatoes.

Key Lessons from the Fappening:

  1. Data Security Gaps Exposed: “The Fappening” showed critical weaknesses in cloud security, particularly around personal data protection, raising concerns for both celebrities and general users.
  2. Privacy Violations and Legal Consequences: This event highlighted the boundaries of digital privacy, prompting affected celebrities to pursue legal action, aiming to protect individual rights online.
  3. Demand for Privacy vs. Public Curiosity: Public fascination with celebrities clashed with privacy rights, revealing a dark side of digital culture that craves access to personal content.
  4. The Role of Online Platforms in Dissemination: Platforms like Reddit and 4Chan played significant roles in circulating the content, sparking debates about platform responsibility and moderation policies.
  5. Ethics in Media and Social Sharing: The media and public response raised ethical issues, questioning the morality of sharing and viewing private content without consent.
  6. Increased Awareness of Cybersecurity: “The Fappening” served as a reminder for individuals and companies alike to bolster cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive information.
  7. Impact on Celebrity Culture and Digital Voyeurism: The incident brought attention to society’s intense interest in celebrity lives, sparking dialogue on the ethics of digital voyeurism and boundaries of fame.

Conclusion

“The Fappening” brought complex issues of privacy, ethics, and data security to the forefront.

It underscored the importance of safeguarding digital information, respecting personal boundaries, and holding platforms accountable for content dissemination. As digital technology and online sharing continue to evolve, a collective approach to stronger privacy measures and responsible engagement online becomes essential to prevent similar breaches.