Online predators spread fake porn of me. Here's how I fought back
-
0:00 - 0:04[This talk contains graphic language
and descriptions of sexual abuse] -
0:05 - 0:10Can I get a show of hands
who here has ever Googled themselves? -
0:12 - 0:13I have.
-
0:15 - 0:19But what started off
as momentary curiosity -
0:19 - 0:22very quickly turned
-
0:22 - 0:27into an almost five-year horrific battle
-
0:27 - 0:29that almost ruined my life.
-
0:31 - 0:33I Google Images reverse-searched myself:
-
0:34 - 0:38a function of Google
that allows you to upload an image -
0:38 - 0:42and it shows you
where it is on the internet. -
0:42 - 0:46This is me at 17 years old.
-
0:46 - 0:49An innocent selfie I took before a party.
-
0:49 - 0:52Now, before I continue, I must point out
-
0:52 - 0:57that what I'm about to talk about
is very confronting and graphic. -
0:58 - 0:59But there's no way out.
-
0:59 - 1:02This is a very confronting issue.
-
1:03 - 1:06In a split second,
-
1:06 - 1:11my screen was flooded with that image
-
1:11 - 1:14and dozens more images of me
-
1:14 - 1:17that had been stolen from my social media,
-
1:17 - 1:20on links connected to porn sites.
-
1:22 - 1:28On these sites, nameless,
faceless sexual predators -
1:28 - 1:32had published highly explicit
sexual commentary about me -
1:32 - 1:34and what they'd like to do to me.
-
1:36 - 1:39"Cover her face and we'd fuck her body,"
-
1:39 - 1:40one person wrote.
-
1:41 - 1:45They also published
identifying information about me: -
1:45 - 1:49where I lived, what I studied, who I was.
-
1:50 - 1:52But things got worse.
-
1:53 - 1:57I soon discovered
that these sexual predators -
1:57 - 2:02had doctored or photoshopped my face
-
2:02 - 2:07onto the bodies of naked adult actresses
engaged in sexual intercourse, -
2:08 - 2:10on solo shots
-
2:11 - 2:14of me being ejaculated on by two men.
-
2:15 - 2:18Sperm was edited onto my face.
-
2:20 - 2:23I was edited onto the cover of a porn DVD.
-
2:25 - 2:28Perpetrators had edited my images
-
2:28 - 2:33to give the effect that my blouse
was transparent or see-through, -
2:33 - 2:35so you could see my nipples.
-
2:37 - 2:41Perpetrators ejaculated on images of me,
-
2:41 - 2:48took photos of their sperm
and penises on these images -
2:48 - 2:50and posted them onto porn sites.
-
2:51 - 2:54"Cum on printed pigs,"
is what they call it. -
2:55 - 2:58Now, you might be wondering,
-
2:58 - 3:01what sorts of images
I posted on social media. -
3:02 - 3:06This is me, at around 19
at the Claremont Hotel, -
3:06 - 3:08just a few suburbs away.
-
3:09 - 3:13And they superimposed that face into this.
-
3:15 - 3:17And things got worse.
-
3:17 - 3:20Nothing was off limits
for these predators. -
3:20 - 3:24They even posted an image
with my little sister on these sites too. -
3:25 - 3:27Now, you might be thinking,
-
3:27 - 3:30"Well, you do dress provocatively,
-
3:30 - 3:34even a little sexually suggestive,
-
3:34 - 3:35attention seeking maybe."
-
3:37 - 3:40But just because
a woman's body gets attention, -
3:40 - 3:42doesn't mean she's attention-seeking.
-
3:43 - 3:47And what is provocative anyway,
what is sexually suggestive? -
3:47 - 3:51In some parts of the world,
showing your ankles -
3:51 - 3:53is promiscuous, is provocative.
-
3:55 - 3:59It's just like, no matter
what a woman wears, -
3:59 - 4:02it's always perceived
as more sexual than it is. -
4:03 - 4:06For me, I just wanted
to feel pretty and confident. -
4:08 - 4:10What's so wrong with that?
-
4:12 - 4:14Now, you might be thinking,
-
4:14 - 4:18"Well, can't you just
set your social media on private?" -
4:20 - 4:23Well, these perpetrators were calculated.
-
4:23 - 4:26They befriended my friends on social media
-
4:26 - 4:28under fake profiles,
-
4:28 - 4:31they followed the public galleries
-
4:31 - 4:35of the events and places
I regularly visited. -
4:37 - 4:39But why?
-
4:39 - 4:43Why should one have to retreat and hide
-
4:43 - 4:46out of fear that something
like this could happen? -
4:48 - 4:50What I post and what I wear
-
4:50 - 4:54isn't an invitation
to violate and abuse me. -
4:54 - 4:58The only person that should be
changing their behavior -
4:58 - 5:00is the perpetrators.
-
5:00 - 5:07(Applause)
-
5:12 - 5:14Now, you might be thinking, why me?
-
5:15 - 5:18Well, I'm just one
-
5:18 - 5:21of the thousands upon thousands
-
5:21 - 5:24of ordinary women
who are being preyed upon -
5:26 - 5:33in these mass-scale, horrific
online cultures, websites and threads -
5:33 - 5:38that are dedicated
to sexually exploiting and doctoring -
5:38 - 5:41ordinary images of women into porn.
-
5:42 - 5:44As I speak,
-
5:45 - 5:49there are women who are being preyed upon,
and they don't even know it. -
5:51 - 5:55In the beginning, I tried seeking help.
-
5:55 - 5:58I went to police,
I contacted government agencies, -
5:58 - 6:02I even tried to hire
a private investigator, -
6:02 - 6:04but they were too expensive.
-
6:05 - 6:07There was nothing that they could do.
-
6:07 - 6:09I mean, what could you do
-
6:09 - 6:15when the sites are hosted overseas
and the perpetrators are from overseas? -
6:17 - 6:21I was told I had to contact
the sites one by one, -
6:21 - 6:25notifying the webmasters
to get everything deleted. -
6:27 - 6:29And so as you can imagine,
-
6:29 - 6:33in complete and utter fear and pain,
-
6:35 - 6:36I did.
-
6:37 - 6:39I contacted the webmasters,
-
6:40 - 6:44requesting that they delete
the material shared without consent. -
6:45 - 6:48And I had some successes,
-
6:48 - 6:50but I also had some major setbacks.
-
6:52 - 6:54The more I fought,
-
6:55 - 6:58the more sites I would discover,
-
6:58 - 7:02and with time, the more my images
were being seen and shared -
7:02 - 7:05in the tens of thousands.
-
7:05 - 7:11I had one webmaster respond to me
saying he'll only delete the site -
7:12 - 7:16if I sent him nude photos
of myself within 24 hours. -
7:17 - 7:19And this went on for years,
-
7:19 - 7:23fighting against these
dodgy, disgusting sites. -
7:23 - 7:26But I was fighting a losing battle.
-
7:27 - 7:31And I couldn't continue this any longer
for my own mental health. -
7:32 - 7:34But what could I do?
-
7:36 - 7:40Maybe, I thought, if I spoke out,
-
7:41 - 7:44I could reclaim my name,
-
7:44 - 7:47and I could rewrite my narrative
on my own terms. -
7:47 - 7:49Maybe if I spoke out,
-
7:49 - 7:52I could raise awareness about this.
-
7:53 - 7:56Maybe I could even try to change the law.
-
7:58 - 7:59And so I did.
-
8:00 - 8:07(Applause)
-
8:10 - 8:12I spoke out publicly late last year
-
8:12 - 8:17and news of my story
reverberated around the world. -
8:18 - 8:20But this was the response.
-
8:20 - 8:23"She's a fat, ugly slut, she's a whore."
-
8:23 - 8:26"She's an attention-seeking
piece of trash." -
8:26 - 8:29"Feel flattered, baby, it's a compliment."
-
8:29 - 8:33I was victim-blamed and slut-shamed
-
8:33 - 8:36and told I was deserving
of what happened to me. -
8:37 - 8:39And quite frankly,
-
8:39 - 8:41that was more difficult for me to endure
-
8:41 - 8:45than my actual experiences
of image-based abuse. -
8:47 - 8:50But I couldn’t let
this criticism defeat me. -
8:50 - 8:53I knew what the perpetrators
had done was wrong, -
8:53 - 8:56and I knew what they were doing
to others was wrong. -
8:56 - 8:58And so I petitioned.
-
8:59 - 9:03I sent out impassioned pleas for support.
-
9:03 - 9:05But it didn't work.
-
9:05 - 9:08I think I got like 330 signatures.
-
9:09 - 9:10And that was really disheartening.
-
9:13 - 9:16But I then contacted
my state and federal MPs. -
9:18 - 9:22And I was referred to the New South Wales
Attorney General's department, -
9:22 - 9:26who were already in the process
of drafting new laws -
9:26 - 9:31to criminalize the nonconsensual
distribution of intimate images. -
9:33 - 9:34Image-based sexual abuse.
-
9:36 - 9:38Some of you might know it as revenge porn.
-
9:40 - 9:43And soon I became a spokesperson,
-
9:43 - 9:45a public face for the new laws.
-
9:46 - 9:48But I must point out,
-
9:48 - 9:50I do not in any way, shape or form
-
9:50 - 9:53want to take credit
for this change in the law. -
9:53 - 9:55This is on the backs
of cybersafety experts, -
9:55 - 9:59of researchers, of the Attorney
General's department, -
9:59 - 10:02of so many people
who have fought for years. -
10:03 - 10:08New South Wales was the first
state in all the world -
10:10 - 10:13to specifically include a provision
on altering images. -
10:13 - 10:15Something that happened to me,
-
10:15 - 10:18something you certainly
don't hear about very often. -
10:18 - 10:22And now ACT has also criminalized this,
-
10:22 - 10:25also with a provision on altered images.
-
10:25 - 10:28And next year, WA
is introducing legislation -
10:28 - 10:33and hopefully, they introduce
a provision on altered images -
10:33 - 10:36and I urge every state and every country
in this world to follow suit, -
10:36 - 10:38because right now,
-
10:38 - 10:40there's no justice for people like me.
-
10:42 - 10:43Despite it all,
-
10:44 - 10:46despite the hate
and despite the criticism, -
10:48 - 10:51despite the fact that I'm never
going to get justice, -
10:51 - 10:54because my experiences happened
before this movement of law reform, -
10:56 - 10:59speaking out was
the best thing I've ever done, -
10:59 - 11:01because I know for a fact
that it has helped people. -
11:05 - 11:07And I just want to live in a world
-
11:09 - 11:12where, regardless
of what I wear or what I post, -
11:12 - 11:17that I'm still worthy of being treated
with dignity and respect. -
11:19 - 11:20Respect.
-
11:21 - 11:24Now, that's an idea worth sharing.
-
11:24 - 11:25(Applause)
-
11:25 - 11:27Thank you.
-
11:27 - 11:33(Applause)
- Title:
- Online predators spread fake porn of me. Here's how I fought back
- Speaker:
- Noelle Martin
- Description:
-
A casual reverse-image search unleashed a nightmarish reality on Noelle Martin when she discovered her face edited into pornographic materials across the internet. Join Martin as she recounts years battling shadowy online figures to reclaim her identity, narrative and peace of mind -- and learn how she helped change Australian law. (This talk contains mature content.)
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 11:46
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for Online predators spread fake porn of me. Here's how I fought back | ||
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for Online predators spread fake porn of me. Here's how I fought back | ||
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for Online predators spread fake porn of me. Here's how I fought back | ||
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Erin Gregory approved English subtitles for Online predators spread fake porn of me. Here's how I fought back | ||
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for Online predators spread fake porn of me. Here's how I fought back | ||
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for Online predators spread fake porn of me. Here's how I fought back | ||
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for Online predators spread fake porn of me. Here's how I fought back |