In 2014, a giant leak of celebrity nude images first drew attention to the vast “revenge porn” site Anon-IB, where users anonymously request nude images of women ranging from celebrities to casual acquaintences to coworkers. Nearly a year ago, a massive scandal broke involving that same site where hundreds of members of the Marines sought, or shared, nude images of female Marines, which quickly was revealed to go beyond the Marines to the rest of the Armed Forces. And now further investigation finds that it’s not just the military: Computers tied to the Senate and even the White House have been found requesting nudes or photoshopped images of women.
As reported by the Daily Beast, a look at the IP range of the computers posting to Anon-IB has found several government agencies. It’s not so precise as to determine which computer or which person did the posting; that would require a government investigation. But it’s clear the scandal is going to spread much further before it’s done, and some of the requests are particularly concerning:
Whoever is connecting from the Senate appears to have a particular focus on Anon-IB’s so-called Xray section, where users post photos so others can alter the image to make the women appear naked or wearing more revealing clothes, with several Xray posts linked to the Senate. Other posts asked for help from other Anon-IB members editing a photo in this way, including one of a girl the poster says they went to college with. In another message, someone connecting from the Senate shared an image of a model, and identified where they allegedly went to college, likely in the hope that others could dig up more images of the woman.
While some of these actions may not necessarily be illegal, they’re definitely a point of concern for government employees, who may have coworkers asking for their nude pictures without even realizing it’s happening, and for taxpayers, who are paying for this. It’s also coming out right as Missouri governor Eric Greitens is battling allegations he tied up and blindfolded his mistress to take nudes of her to blackmail her with later, and as Republicans are resigning after spending taxpayer money to settle their sexual harassment suits. In that context, it seems unlikely this scandal is done just yet.
(via The Daily Beast)