MaleGeneral, reminiscent of 4Chan, invites users to post explicit photos of men – and it’s not easy to get them removed
What does it mean to be alive in 2018? For a significant portion of us, it’s to live in a world where access to anything or anyone can be obtained simply by ‘logging in’. We’re able to communicate with friends and family no matter where they are in the world, or consume TV shows, films, and even video games by streaming them instantly to our screens. And I’m pretty sure these same-day Amazon deliveries by drone will land any day now.
But with all its opportunities, the reality of life in 2018 also brings a sense of post-Black Mirror paranoia. It’s a place where a hopeful lover’s dreams are dashed by catfishing, where gamers enjoying an online session in VRChat helplessly observe as another player has a seizure IRL, and where lifelike robots joke openly about world domination on national television.
Whether the digital revolution is for better or worse, it’s impossible to hide from the fact we live in an era of hyper-observation and limitless accessibility. So it should have been no surprise when this ‘digital revolution’ eventually extended to human sexuality as well. With the rise of online dating, hook-up apps and even the on-demand ‘boyfriend experience’, it seems a person’s entire spectrum of sexual desire can be satiated simply by using the internet.
MaleGeneral (100 per cent NSFW) is the perfect example of how far this has come. With a design that’s reminiscent of 4chan, it’s an online forum which invites users to post photos identifying any male they know (on or offline), with the purpose of asking other users to share explicit images and/or videos of the male in question. This can come in the form of dick-pics which were originally shared in a private setting, or even wetransfer links to downloadable videos. Just think Is Anyone Up? (the user-generated, now defunct revenge porn site from 2012), but for men who like men. And while a great deal of content shared here often concerns material made by guys who are willingly selling porn through other sites (like subscription site OnlyFans), many are just regular people finding themselves victim to revenge porn, sexual exploitation and explicit material shared with malicious intent.
The site is made up of multiple threads where users can ask or search for specific nudes – many have personal information attached and detailed, like their social media accounts or full names. Some have modest followings on Instagram or Twitter, others are unknowns that individual users wish to pursue naked images of. A link-out page details some of the removal requests by people affected, referring to anyone who goes directly to the internet service provider as “turds”. The page accepts donations in Bitcoin and Litecoin.
Jack, whose name has been changed for confidentiality purposes, is one of the many men who’ve had such material shared on MaleGeneral without his consent. Having previously exchanged nude photos as part of an intimate, one-on-one experience on Grindr, Jack was shocked to learn these had later been distributed to millions of users on MaleGeneral. A thread was posted asking for his nudes to be brought to light, and the original recipient from Grindr anonymously distributed them - all completely against his will.
“Last year, I received a DM on Twitter from someone I didn’t know,” he said. “It said something along the lines of ‘Hey, have you seen these photos of you naked on this website?’ and it included a link. I thought it was just some fake junk mail circulating but for some reason I clicked on it and there it was. I just closed it down as fast as I could, and when I got home I looked into it more and I figured out how horrific that website is. I kept quiet because I didn’t exactly want people seeing that of me…”
It seems images shared during a brief sexual encounter between two consenting adults on Grindr were now being used against him. Having simply taken part in what is now a very common aspect of 21st century sexuality and relationships, Jack found himself victim to sexual abuse, exploitation and humiliation on MaleGeneral.
“I figured out how horrific that website is. I kept quiet because I didn’t exactly want people seeing that of me”
“When reading the terms of how to get the post removed from their website,” Jack continued, “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.”
“I was disgusted… and of course, I didn’t want to do that so I kept quiet about it, thinking no one knew the website existed. I was never ashamed because I knew a lot of people do send photos like that, it was just unfortunate it was me that all this happened to.”
When asked about the dangers of social media and the internet in 2018, Jack told me of how MaleGeneral was even harming children.
“It can be a dangerous place,” he said. “I actually saw a post of a guy who was under the age of 18. I didn’t know who it was – a comment was posted anonymously which said ‘Delete this quick, he isn’t of age’, so that alone shows teens are also involved.
“On social media, it’s easy to lie about your age. Teens can just type whatever they like into a box and are taking a risk by sending stuff like that, for it to end up on a website they have no clue about. So I do think there needs to be some form of education to a degree, just so young people know how out of hand this can become.”
“It is possible that posting these images may be a criminal offence under the so-called ‘Revenge Porn’ law, but that would require intent to cause the victim distress, which is difficult to prove,” Alex Haydock, a legal assistant at Open Rights Group explains. “Laws around harassment and copyright may apply in some circumstances, but this still leaves some room for people to share explicit images without permission.”
Any law covering this area is dense and complex, like Haydock outlines, and the onus seems unfortunately left on victims of the revenge porn forum to pursue changes to protect their privacy.