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Speaker 1

00:00

-♪ ♪ -♪ ♪ The Internet. It's a place where you can see incredible things, like glamour shots of cats, Angora show bunnies, or even this rare, heartbreaking footage of an injured World War I soldier returning home to his pregnant wife. ♪ Never gonna give you up

Speaker 2

00:19

Never gonna let you down ♪ Never gonna run around And desert you

Speaker 1

00:25

You idiots! I got you so good! I got you so good!

Speaker 1

00:29

-♪ I'm gonna let you down the Internet has been blowing our minds with its power and convenience for decades, as you can see in this actual AOL ad from the 90s.

Speaker 3

00:40

Hey, Dan, ready for the game? I'm just finishing up here with my new kayaking friends.

Speaker 4

00:44

Kayaking friends on your computer?

Speaker 3

00:45

Yeah, I just got America Online.

Speaker 4

00:47

Sounds great. Listen, I can't go to the game today. What?

Speaker 4

00:50

I've got to send something for my mom's birthday. It's tomorrow. I'll then book plane tickets for our trip next week, and my kids gotta go to the library to look up dinosaurs.

Speaker 3

00:58

Hey, we can take care of all that before we go.

Speaker 4

01:00

Yeah, right.

Speaker 3

01:01

Oh, with America Online.

Speaker 1

01:03

Wait, let me get this right. Your mom's birthday is tomorrow, your trip is next week, and you're only planning both of those things now? Forget the AOL tutorial.

Speaker 1

01:11

Let's talk about basic responsibility here, Dan. You're a father! But as the ad goes on to point out, the Internet was going to fix everything.

Speaker 5

01:22

Call now for 10 free hours of America Online and get instant access to the world of sports, finance, computing, and entertainment.

Speaker 3

01:29

Here come the dinosaurs. I saved you a trip to the library. That's great.

Speaker 3

01:33

Yeah, downloading's easy, too. You know, I can even send email on the Internet. And of course, there's my personal favorite, live chat. That's how I met my new kayaking buddies.

Speaker 1

01:40

Okay, okay, okay. I'm now pretty sure that kayaking buddies is a euphemism. I'm not saying that he's not going to meet his new buddies in a shed by a lake.

Speaker 1

01:51

I'm just saying there's not going to be a kayak involved. That's... Amazingly, that ad was 20 years ago, and the Internet has become integral to modern life. But unfortunately, it's also become a haven for harassment.

Speaker 1

02:04

And I'm not talking about everyday Internet abuse, of which I am more than aware. Look at our YouTube page, and you'll see comments like, this guy's a fucking dumbass. I don't know why, but I always pictured John Oliver as a puffin, and watch his hands, his fingers are like creepy spider legs. Which is ridiculous, because...

Speaker 1

02:24

Oh, God! Oh, get off me! No, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the kind of direct threats that can make people fear for their safety.

Speaker 1

02:34

And if you're thinking, well, come on, that doesn't seem like that big a problem, well, congratulations on your white penis. Because if you have 1 of those, You probably have a very different experience of the Internet. Women in particular can receive a veritable cornucopia of horrifying messages online. Just listen to 1 female video game where discussing 1 of the more colorful threats that she's seen.

Speaker 6

02:59

I think The 1 that always sticks out in my mind is, I'm going to stick an egg in your vaginal canal and punch it. -...and I don't know why, but that 1 is just... It's poignant.

Speaker 1

03:11

You know what? It is kind of poignant. Fun fact for you, I'm going to stick an egg in your vaginal canal and punch it was actually the original title of Eat, Pray, Love.

Speaker 1

03:20

So, there's a little fact for you. And that threat was comparatively mild. Others can be chillingly specific and potentially dangerous. Listen to how these women were treated when they spoke out against what they saw as sexism in the video game industry.

Speaker 7

03:34

I'm constantly aware of the fact that, there's an enormous amount of hate directed towards me.

Speaker 8

03:41

Hate in the form of bomb threats, rape threats, even death threats. They told me they were coming to kill me. When someone posts your address online and they tell you they're gonna murder your whole family, you don't really feel safe staying at that location.

Speaker 1

03:57

Yeah, no shit. I wouldn't blame her for not feeling safe staying on Earth. For the record, if someone did that to me, I'd hitch a ride to the International Space Station straight away, except who am I kidding?

Speaker 1

04:08

They'd never let me in. I've got spiders for hands! The Internet is mean! And look, This does not just affect women in gaming.

Speaker 1

04:18

It can potentially affect any woman who makes the mistake of having a thought in her mind and then vocalizing it online.

Speaker 9

04:25

For many female writers and public figures, this day-to-day harassment is their life. Earlier this year, writer Amanda Hess detailed her experience.

Speaker 10

04:34

The threats were obviously distressing. It was an anonymous person on Twitter threatening to come to my house, to rape me, to cut off my head.

Speaker 1

04:42

And in case you think she's exaggerating, here are some of the tweets she's referring to. Happy to say we live in the same state. I'm looking you up, and when I find you, I'm going to rape you and remove your head.

Speaker 1

04:53

And I am 36 years old, I did 12 years for manslaughter, I killed a woman like you, who decided to make fun of Guy's cocks. Which is horrifying for so many reasons. First, he put manslaughter in quotes, like he still doesn't think it's a crime. -...and also, he put his age like he's writing the world's worst OK Cupid's profile.

Speaker 1

05:15

I'm 36 years old, I've killed before, and I've got a pretty weird-shaped penis. -$5,000. The thing is, when Amanda Hess went to the police, she quickly discovered how ill-equipped they can be to deal with this sort of thing.

Speaker 10

05:27

In my home state of California, it's a crime to threaten bodily harm against another person. When I received my most sort of recent bout of threats, said the police officer who came to my door didn't even understand what Twitter was, had no idea how to investigate such a crime, and I'm not even sure knew that it was criminal. So it's hard to know what to do when you're put in that situation.

Speaker 1

05:51

That's a problem, because the police cannot investigate a crime if they genuinely don't understand the medium in which it happened. If someone tried to drown you, You don't want the police saying, I get the murder attempt, but what's this water thing you keep bringing up? Is it like air, but a bit more choky?

Speaker 1

06:07

Is that what it is? And women aren't just threatened and harassed online. The Internet has thrown up a whole new way to wreck their lives. It's called revenge porn.

Speaker 1

06:15

You may have heard of it. It's when naked photos of people are posted online without their consent. And it can be devastating. This is Anne-Marie Ciorini, an English professor who let her then-boyfriend take some private photos of her.

Speaker 1

06:28

Now, after they broke up, He sent them to her employer and her son's kindergarten teacher, and then this happened.

Speaker 7

06:34

I received an anonymous email at work that a profile had been created of me, someone was pretending to be me, and there were nude pictures on this profile. So I Googled my name, and the porn website, Ex Hamster, came up. And there was my first and last name, the name of the college where I teach, the town where I live, and a solicitation for sex.

Speaker 1

06:54

Now, that obviously sounds like a nightmare. And sadly, the horror of that situation led her to some pretty dark places.

Speaker 7

07:02

My actual thoughts were, this was my, this is my life. This is never gonna end, so I need to end my life. Because I could not live like that.

Speaker 7

07:12

So after the, I found the profile, I attempted suicide.

Speaker 1

07:17

Now, you would assume that it's illegal to do that to someone. The problem is, there is no federal law specifically against revenge porn. And in Maryland, where she lived, revenge porn was not illegal at the time.

Speaker 1

07:28

In fact, only 23 states have passed laws specifically against revenge porn. In the other 27, it's 1 of those things that should be explicitly illegal, but isn't. Like using a golf umbrella in Manhattan, or returning from a semester abroad in Spain and insisting on calling it Barthelona. -♪ Barthelona ♪ -♪ Barthelona You are the worst.

Speaker 1

07:50

The worst. The point is, the point is, if you are a victim of revenge porn in 1 of those 27 states, your options are limited. You can try to pursue stalking or harassment charges, but those laws may not always apply. Or, you can file a civil suit against the person who did it, but as Anne-Marie Ciorini found out, you face an uphill battle.

Speaker 7

08:13

I did go to lawyers in 2010 to handle this civilly, and the first 1 said, well, you know, you really should get better boyfriends. I won't take this case. The second 1 I approached said, well, it's gonna be a $5,000 upfront retainer and this could run anywhere from 10 to 15,000 when all's said and done.

Speaker 7

08:33

I'm a single mom of 2, I work 2 jobs. I don't have $5,000, never mind $15,000.

Speaker 1

08:39

Yeah, of course you don't, because most people don't keep a shoebox full of money marked, just In case a total piece of shit tries to ruin my life. Now, you could ask the website to take the photos down if you own the copyright. But if they refuse, then winning your lawsuit might entail doing something absolutely mind-blowing.

Speaker 11

08:59

You can sue, But to do that, you've got to register the copyright. Which brings us to the cold, hard truth. In the most extreme case, you've got to send pictures of your naked body to the copyright office.

Speaker 11

09:11

That's in Washington.

Speaker 1

09:13

Yes. To stop strangers from seeing pictures of their naked body. Some women have had to send more strangers more pictures of their naked body. We are 1 step away from trying to protect our children in the future by having the copyright symbol tattooed onto their genitals at birth.

Speaker 1

09:30

Look, just to be safe, let's take her to Vipers Ink Shack. We don't know what kind of arsehole she could end up meeting. This situation is insane. And as 1 expert found, the official response to victims ranges from offensive to ridiculous.

Speaker 12

09:46

I've interviewed 60 victims of online harassment. What they're often told is, look, either if it's revenge porn, you shared pictures with your ex, he owns it now. Like, sorry that you trusted the person, but it's kind of your fault, right?

Speaker 12

10:01

Or they're told, look, if it's just harassment generally, like, turn off your computer. Ignore it. It'll go away.

Speaker 1

10:09

But turn off your computer is simply not practical. Almost every job requires the Internet now. Somewhere right now in the world, there is a yak herder going, -"Why is the Wi-Fi so slow?" --LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE Fuck it, I'll herd these yaks after lunch.

Speaker 1

10:25

--LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE --And that whole distinctly victim-blaming sentiment of, if you didn't want this to happen, you shouldn't have taken photos, is hardwired into mainstream culture. Just watch how the news talks about this whenever it comes up.

Speaker 3

10:40

How best to avoid this problem? Experts say, don't take pictures and then share them.

Speaker 8

10:45

I think that the-the teachable moment and the takeaway is you just can't take these pictures. You know what? Don't take naked photos of yourself.

Speaker 13

10:54

1 of the solutions

Speaker 8

10:55

to the problem is don't take pictures of yourself naked. Okay, we've said that.

Speaker 14

10:58

Good point. Kids, Don't take pictures of yourself naked and put it on the internets. It's gonna come up some point.

Speaker 7

11:06

And what if it doesn't come up until you're a parent and then you

Speaker 11

11:08

gotta explain that? -...ha ha ha. -...ha ha ha.

Speaker 1

11:11

What the fuck are you talking about? For a start, not taking pictures doesn't always work. Sometimes these photos come from hacked webcams, but regardless of that, it doesn't matter how it happens.

Speaker 1

11:22

Because here's a fun game. Insert any other crime into those same sentences. Listen, guys, if you don't want to get burgled, don't live in a house. If you're a parent, how are you gonna explain that break-in to your kids?

Speaker 1

11:35

-♪ Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee... -♪ -♪

Speaker 14

11:38

Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee... -♪ -♪ Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee... -♪ Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee... -♪ And look, I'm well aware

Speaker 1

11:44

that asking law enforcement to police speech is a dicey proposition. No 1 wants them trawling through message boards, looking for violent language. But if a woman turns up to a police station, saying someone threatened her life on Twitter, the answer, what's Twitter, is woefully inadequate.

Speaker 1

12:01

And as for revenge porn, we're gonna need some new laws. Fortunately, there are plans to introduce a bill in Congress called the Intimate Privacy Protection Act that aims to address non-consensual pornography. And we've obtained an exclusive video of 1 representative's genuinely moving speech about balancing First Amendment rights and protecting victims. ♪

Speaker 2

12:21

Never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down

Speaker 1

12:25

♪ ♪

Speaker 2

12:26

Never gonna run around and desert you...

Speaker 1

12:29

♪ I got you again! You're a bunch of idiots and I'm the king of pranks! -♪ I'm the king of pranks!

Speaker 1

12:34

-♪ I'm the king of pranks! If passed, this law, as drafted, would make it a crime to post revenge porn. And don't worry, it would still leave us with plenty of internet porn to keep us going. And also, the law would carve out exceptions for the bonafide public interest.

Speaker 1

12:52

Meaning that if, say, a public figure like Anthony Weiner texted his penis around, we could all still enjoy that story. Now, not being able to enjoy it would not be a danger. Danger! Danger!

Speaker 1

13:06

Danger! Although... Although the truth is, the law can only do so much. Companies need to be much more diligent about clamping down on this, and they are slowly coming around.

Speaker 1

13:18

In recent months, Twitter and Reddit banned revenge porn on their sites, and just this Friday, Google finally announced, after much prodding, it would remove photos of revenge porn from search results upon request. And for Google to do that is not nothing. Because we all know, not even vindictive perverts will use Bing. They won't do it.

Speaker 1

13:39

Not even they will go near that thing. They're not monsters. -... And for the rest of us, it comes down to us.

Speaker 1

13:50

And to fundamentally changing the way that we think about the Internet. Because too often, you hear people play down the dangers of the Internet by saying, well, relax, it's not real life. But it is. And it always has been.

Speaker 1

14:03

The whole point of those AOL ads 20 years ago was that what you did online would affect your life immediately. Nowadays, you can click a button and buy a book, meet your spouse, or ruin someone's life. Sometimes those last 2 are the same click. But we all know the Internet is an incredible tool, but like most tools, it can be used as a weapon.

Speaker 1

14:25

And we've allowed things to get to a place where women can fear for their lives for something they said online, and find themselves mailing their genitals to Washington in order to maintain their privacy. And perhaps we would have dealt with this earlier if only those AOL ads had looked something like this.

Speaker 15

14:42

Every day, the Internet is making it easier for people to live, work, and play.

Speaker 13

14:48

Hey, Dan. Ready for the game? I'm just finishing up here with my new kayaking friends.

Speaker 16

14:52

Wow. That's a really specific thing to say. Listen, I'm not gonna be able to make the game tonight. Oh.

Speaker 16

14:58

Why? Well, I have to go out into the streets and scream obscenities at women that I don't even know. And then after that, I gotta handwrite letters to all the golden girls telling them that I'm gonna shit down their throats. And then after that, I gotta bring these naked photos of my ex-wife to her office and show them to everyone that she works with because she's such a bitch.

Speaker 16

15:16

It's gonna take hours.

Speaker 13

15:17

Hey, we can do all of that before we go.

Speaker 16

15:20

Yeah, right.

Speaker 13

15:21

No, with the internet. Look, it's easy. See, Here's a random woman from Minneapolis who just said how she felt about something.

Speaker 13

15:34

You want me to make her fear for her life?

Speaker 16

15:36

Why not? But how? Done!

Speaker 16

15:41

Incredible! What else can this thing do to women?

Speaker 15

15:45

With the internet, the only limit to how miserable you can make another human being is how angry you are and how fast you can type.

Speaker 16

15:53

Hey, but what about those photos of

Speaker 13

15:55

my ex-wife? Oh, that's my favorite part. All you have to do is scan them into this site and then people can see it instantly.

Speaker 16

16:02

Her boss, her friends, her parents, everyone. Everyone? Everyone.

Speaker 16

16:08

Everyone? Everyone.

Speaker 13

16:10

And this is legal? There's no federal law explicitly against it.

Speaker 16

16:15

That seems insane. Doesn't it? Yeah, it really does.

Speaker 1

16:20

-♪ ♪ -♪ ♪ -♪ ♪

Speaker 13

16:24

Anyway, come on. We're gonna be late for the game. Can't wait.

Speaker 13

16:28

Afterwards, I'm gonna f-ck some of my We're kayaking buddies. What?

Speaker 1

16:45

You