MaleGeneral (allegedly) takes the non-consensual posting of sexual images — a.k.a. revenge porn — to the next level. In addition to posting sexually explicit images, it asks users to help build collections around specific, sought out individuals.
Per a recent write up via DazedDigital, MaleGeneral invites users to post photos identifying any man they know, online or off. Other users are then asked to share additional explicit images and/or videos in a sort of crowd-sourced curation of non-consensual imagery. The site also contains multiple threads where users can request or search for specific nudes. Many of the threads have personal information attached, like social media accounts or full names.
“[W]hile a great deal of content shared [on MaleGeneral] often concerns material made by guys who are willingly selling porn through other sites… many are just regular people finding themselves victim to revenge porn, sexual exploitation and explicit material shared with malicious intent,” DazedDigital wrote.
In addition to putting the Internet on the hunt for explicit images of non-professional and/or non-seeking individuals, MaleGeneral also shames people who have attempted to get their images removed from the site. A link-out page — which, incidentally, accepts donations in Bitcoin and Litecoin — details some of the removal requests they’ve received, stating “These morons didn’t contact us using the proper channels listed on the contact page.”
DazedDigital recounted a story from Jack, who corresponded with them via pseudonym. Having previously willingly exchanged nude photos as part of an intimate experience, Jack was shocked to learn these images had later been distributed on MaleGeneral without his consent.
“When reading the terms of how to get the post removed from their website,” Jack said via DazedDigital, “I saw that you have to send [the people running MaleGeneral] a picture of yourself holding a sign with your details, and if you don’t do it ‘correctly’ they publicly post the photo on the site to shame you.”
In their write-up of MaleGeneral, PinkNews called the site “disturbingly cruel,” alluding presumably to something different, more intense or next level occurring in the space. In reality however, MaleGeneral is just business as usual in the revenge porn space.
It is possible that posting images to MaleGeneral may be a criminal offense under various revenge porn laws, but that requires the men pictured to show malicious intent, among other dimensions. Via DazedDigital, Alex Haydock, a legal intern at Open Rights Group explained, “Laws around harassment and copyright may apply in some circumstances, but this still leaves some room for people to share explicit images without permission.”
Sites like MaleGeneral will continue to conflate criminal activity with legitimate adult content by including instances of both on their platform, as well as by the nature of the media attention they garner — both PinkNews and DazedDigital being cases in point. As members of the adult community, it would behoove us to find ways to support civilians caught up in revenge porn crosshairs such as these, as well as continually reiterate and demand more precise language. “Revenge porn” is not porn, and continued reference to it as such is highly irresponsible.
