The website is trying to prevent hackers from posting material on its pages

Sep 8, 2014 06:45 GMT  ·  By

Reddit just took the first major step in trying to prevent hackers from posting stolen material – in particular celebrity intimate photos – by shutting down the part of the site where users can upload their own photos.

As you all might remember, last week, there was a major leak scandal last week involving some of the biggest names in show business today where a hacker released photos of several female celebrities and threatened to release even more. His list included over 100 names. It was named the biggest celebrity leak scandals of all time and it has raised serious questions about the online safety of your sensitive material.

As far as Reddit is concerned, the decision to shut down the photo-sharing option is probably connected to this very leak, but others like it in the future. The site aims to thusly prevent any legal troubles that will come with the ongoing investigation.

Underage photos are the real cause of the shutdown

The decision is also probably linked to the fact that one of the people involved in the leak, American gymnast McKayla Maroney has claimed that she was underage in the leaked photos of her. This made the leak even more controversial, but it also made it a serious offense, liable to get any people involved landed in jail.

Since websites are very aware that distributing explicit materials with underage people is one of the things you just don't do on the internet, it makes sense for Reddit to want to prevent such a thing from happening on their pages. Shut down the photo-sharing part of the site and prevent getting sued, that was the aim here.

TMZ quotes the site's administrator when he said that “While current US law does not prohibit linking to stolen materials, we deplore the theft of these images and we do not condone their widespread distribution.”

Users will most likely take their business elsewhere

The users on the site involved in the leaked photos page are not very happy with the decision and will probably look to move their photos elsewhere. The material was first published on the image sharing board 4Chan, which is preferred by many since it allows the users to post and comment anonymously.

This is why the hacker chose to distribute his material here first. He maintained his innocence, stating that he never hacked anyone, he simply “collected” the photos, leading investigators from the FBI to think that there was an underground celebrity photo-sharing ring on the internet.