17 teenager girls of Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical School, some as young as 14-years-old, have had their Facebook photos allegedly copied and reposted on a foreign pornography website. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is looking into the matter.
“To have someone go in and grab their picture and put it on the site like this is not proper,” Principal Clifford Cloutier told CBS News. “I think it’s illegal.”
School officials were informed of the issue back in January. The affected students were shocked and embarrassed when the dean told them the news. The girls were all fully clothed, but some of their personal details, like their name and school, were posted alongside their pictures.
Investigators say they are not sure what action they can take against the site as it operates outside of the U.S., and they may have already shut it down once before. The website is hosted in Ohio, but its servers are in Eastern Europe. Police say it is unclear whether there’s any criminal activity involved.
That being said, anyone who views the website, which not only features nude pictures but child pornography as well, inside the country can expect a visit from the police. Authorities aren’t releasing the name of the site, for obvious reasons.
Officials are cautioning that they don’t believe this is an isolated incident and that more students could potentially be affected. This is a perfect example of why you should make your photos on Facebook, including your profile pictures and mobile uploads, only available to your friends. Even then though, remember that once you post something on the Internet, it can easily be duplicated and posted elsewhere.
See also:
- Facebook rolls out new photo viewer, similar to Google+
- Facebook clarifies breastfeeding photo policy
- Facebook: most flagged photos aren’t offensive, just unflattering
- British Facebook users are drunk in 76% of their photos
- Facebook confirms images of porn and violence, is investigating
- Daughter posts sexually explicit photos, dad sues Facebook
