Dutch police seize revenge porn site Anon-IB
US military and government IP addresses have been linked to Anon-IB posts.
Dutch police have seized revenge porn site Anon-IB, Motherboard reports. The site currently redirects to a Dutch police force website with an image stating, "Cybercrime teams from the Dutch police have seized the Anon-IB forum in an ongoing investigation concerning criminal offenses. More information concerning this investigation will be made available on April 26, 2018 on www.politie.nl." A spokesperson for Politie -- the Dutch police force -- told Motherboard that no Anon-IB administrators had been arrested yet but some users of the site had been brought in.
Users of Anon-IB go to the site to share nude photos, or "wins" as they're called, with others. Some also request images and different sections and threads allow visitors to focus on specific countries, states or even universities. Earlier this year, The Daily Beast reported that IP addresses linked to the US Navy, the US Senate, the Department of Energy and the Executive Office of the President were used to post on Anon-IB.
Revenge porn has proven difficult to tackle, but some governments have made efforts to fight it. Australia created a national reporting tool last year and California launched a similar hub in 2015. German courts have ruled that subjects of nude photos can withdraw their consent after sharing them and the UK made revenge porn a crime in 2015. And last year, Senators introduced a bill that would criminalize revenge porn in the US. However, last week, a Texas court ruled that a 2015 law that made revenge porn a misdemeanor punishable by jail time and a fine was unconstitutional. The 12th Court of Appeals said the law was too broad and far-reaching and therefore a violation of the First Amendment.
Katelyn Bowden, creator of the anti-revenge porn group BADASS, told Motherboard, "We at BADASS, are so thrilled to see that a law enforcement agency has heard our pleas, and has finally done something against this website. Anon-IB was a cancer on the internet, and needed to be removed. We are immeasurably grateful to the Dutch police and all parties who had a hand in getting Anon-IB shut down."
