Reddit Bans Nude Photos Posted Without Depicted's Consent Starting March 10

Six months after Reddit found itself in the spotlight when naked celebrity photographs flooded its pages, the company has changed its rules on how it handles nude photos posted to the site. Nude pictures and sexually explict videos posted to Reddit without the consent of those depicted will be banned, beginning March 10.

Under a new section titled “Involuntary Pornography” in Reddit’s privacy policy, the company urges anyone who believes that such images of them were posted to the site to contact it at contact@reddit.com to get the photos removed. The policy shift was revealed in a post that also detailed new hires as well as new tutorials for moderators of the site.

The changes come months after hundreds of stolen nude celebrity photos, including those of “Hunger Games” actress Jennifer Lawrence and model Kate Upton, were leaked onto the site after hackers broke into their iCloud accounts. A sub-reddit called “the Fappening,” where many of the photos were posted, was subsequently banned in response to the leak. Photos were steadily removed from the site and many other sites after several Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notices were submitted by owners of the pictures.

The move by Reddit is one of many made in recent months by companies and legislative bodies to curb the posting of nude photographs online without the consent of those depicted. Last month, Illinois passed what is considered one of the toughest laws against so-called "revenge porn." To date, 16 laws against the practice are on the books in the U.S.

Read Reddit’s statement on the policy change below:

“Last year, we missed a chance to be a leader in social media when it comes to protecting your privacy -- something we’ve cared deeply about since reddit’s inception. At our recent all hands company meeting, this was something that we all, as a company, decided we needed to address.

No matter who you are, if a photograph, video, or digital image of you in a state of nudity, sexual excitement, or engaged in any act of sexual conduct, is posted or linked to on reddit without your permission, it is prohibited on reddit. We also recognize that violent personalized images are a form of harassment that we do not tolerate and we will remove them when notified. As usual, the revised Privacy Policy will go into effect in two weeks, on March 10, 2015”