How to remove revenge porn from the Internet
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I’ve had revenge porn leaked online, how can legal intervention help?
Cohen Davis Solicitors successfully managed a complex revenge porn case, securing the removal of unauthorised explicit content and identifying the perpetrator. Our firm employed strategic legal measures, including a Norwich Pharmacal Order, to protect the privacy and rights of the individuals involved.
Removing revenge porn from Telegram
Background
In 2019, our client Freddie (not his real name), came across explicit online content of his girlfriend, Abbie, posted on pornographic websites, Reddit and other websites. The explicit content consists of images and videos of Abbie, all of which were filmed by her. Freddie informed us that Abbie never intended for the explicit content to be distributed widely across the internet. She had only ever live streamed on one niche website and possibly sent the content to an individual in confidence. Freddie was shocked by the extensive publications on the internet and immediately reported what he could. He had previously been successful when utilising a website called DMCA.com, which act as the middle person, in removing online content.
Client’s goal
At the time of our consultation, both Freddie and Abbie’s main goal was to remove a public Telegram group which was impersonating Abbie by using her full name to portray that the account was from her and contained the explicit content of Abbie. As well as the Telegram group, there was also a Reddit account which was posting content about Abbie. The explicit content had been removed prior to Freddie and Abbie seeking our help, but the comments remained, which made it clear that the deleted content was explicit photographs of Abbie. Abbie was a victim of a revenge porn campaign.
Freddie suspected that this campaign was conducted by an individual who was based in Canada. These suspicions were because Abbie was previously communicating with this individual and had sent him explicit images and videos. In one of the videos that have been published, Abbie says his name. Freddie believed that upon Abbie ceasing contact with the individual, he became revengeful and published what content he had of her on the internet. Moreover, there are images on the Telegram group of Abbie that only this individual had access to.
Our advice to clients
We advised Abbie and Freddie that there were two pragmatic options available to them. The first option is that we can serve a Digital Millennium Copyright Act Notice (DMCA) on the website operators which publish the explicit content – the current being Telegram. A DMCA takedown notice is an official notification to the company informing them that the material they are publishing infringes on a copyright. The company or website at the receiving end of the notice should immediately take down the copyrighted material. The second option, which we suggested we do simultaneously is to reveal the identity behind the various accounts found on Telegram and Reddit. We informed the clients that we would start with applying for disclosure information from Telegram as the public group contains excessive explicit images and videos of Abbie.
Removing revenge porn from Telegram
To obtain the information behind the Telegram group, we provided the clients with the option of writing to Telegram. The plan was to ask Telegram to inform us of their position if we were to make a disclosure application through the High Court and to try and agree on a Court Order, whilst asking them to preserve the identifying information behind the Group. We would also request that Telegram removes the Group permanently due to there being a clear breach of Abbie’s copyright and that it was impersonating her.
Telegram has an office based in the UK and complies with Data Protection regulations. Therefore, from our experience, it should not contest our application to the Court and any permissions granted. The application to the Court is referred to as Norwich Pharmacal Order (NPO) and this application would be heavily detailed to give the Court a sufficient reason to order Telegram to disclose the identifying information to us and to grant us the permission to obtain this from Telegram. Telegram would then be bound to give us any identifying information they hold relating to the account holders behind the group.
Subject to the quality of the disclosure, we would hope that this will help Abbie and Freddie to successfully provide strong ammunition to mount a case for revenge porn against the suspected individual. It was important at the time to consider that we would need to justify why there has been wrongdoing here, which is backed up by substantive law, to ensure that the Court give us the permission to obtain disclosure from Telegram. We would need to draft a claim form, a witness statement and draft a Court order for the disclosure application. We were also considering submitting disclosure applications for Reddit for further evidence.
Legal action taken
We successfully served letters under Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") on each of the websites harbouring explicit content of Abbie. This resulted in both the content, and entire channels being removed. Additionally, we successfully obtained a Norwich Pharmacal Order from to disclose the identifying information from the user responsible for the various online platforms, which led to the identity of the individual whom Freddie and Abbie both suspected were behind this. The clients were delighted with this result and finally felt at peace knowing the internet was clear for any explicit or offending content of Abbie.
Lawyers thoughts on the case
At Cohen Davis Solicitors, we take immense pride in our ability to handle sensitive and complex cases with the utmost professionalism and diligence. Our firm's success in securing the removal of unauthorised and harmful content, along with identifying the perpetrators behind such actions, underscores our commitment to upholding the rights and dignity of our clients. We are particularly proud of our strategic use of legal instruments like the Norwich Pharmacal Order, which not only provided Freddie and Abbie with closure but also reinforced the legal framework protecting individuals from online harassment and abuse.
Contact us
If you find yourself in a situation similar to Freddie and Abbie's, facing unauthorised distribution of private content or any form of digital harassment, do not hesitate to reach out to us for professional legal assistance. At Cohen Davis Solicitors, we are dedicated to providing effective solutions to your legal concerns. You can contact us by phone at 020 7183 4123 or via email at helpline@cohendavis.co.uk. We are here to help you navigate through your legal challenges with confidence and ensure your rights are fully protected.
