Volume 88 | Issue 2 | obiter-dicta.ca
The Definitive Source for Osgoode News since 1928
Monday, September 15, 2014
celebrity nude photos
is non-consentual publication
sexual assault?
ê Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique. Only her public photos, not her private ones, are designed for your ogling.
michael capitano › news editor
W
hen it comes to crime, internet laws
have failed to keep pace with reality.
Theft and assault (in the physical sense)
are readily prosecuted. Their cyber versions? Not so much.
The non-consensual publication of nude celebrity
photos of Jenifer Lawrence and many others, hacked
from secure personal accounts, brings the issue to
the fore. What laws, if any, can protect people from
the inadvertent posting of the most private kind of
photographs? Approaching a random woman on the
street, removing her clothes, and snapping pictures of
her is a lewd act of voyeurism and sexual assault. Isn’t
the above the digital equivalent?
Forget about advice such as, “Don’t take nude selfies” or “Shrug it off.” It only reinforces the “blame the
victim mentality” that plagues women when it comes
to the positive assertion and security of their sexual
agency. It is their choice to take the photos or not and
their choice who to share them with, if anyone. All
women deserve to explore their sexuality on their
own terms, not to be exploited to fulfil the masturbatory fantasies of the internet.
I’m glad that authorities have taken this seriously, even if it has only/mainly been for celebrities.
In 2012, the man responsible for hacking naked pictures of female celebrities and non-famous women
was sentenced to ten years in prison—but for hacking
for gain, illegal wiretapping, and aggravated identity
theft. Nothing about the actual content of the person’s actions. It misses that the victim was a woman
whose body was exposed without her consent.
That’s not to say the issue isn’t being addressed.
» see cover, page 11
In this Issue ...
editorial
West Queen West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
news
Celebrity Nude Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . cover, 11
Dean’s Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
arts & culture
Jurisfoodence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
sports
Future of the Blue Jays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10