Candid Teen Creepshots Be Sued?

Women who find their genitalia or buttocks being photographed without their knowledge while going about their day may have grounds to file a lawsuit for defamation, invasion of privacy and emotional distress damages incurred as a result of being posted online without consent and then uploaded into searchable archives – potentially including detention depending on state and jurisdiction requirements.

While social media sites have begun policing so-called creepshots (close-up images of women taken without their consent, often publicly), communities dedicated to sharing such images and clips have formed private forums which sidestep terms of service. Motherboard investigated one such forum called Candid Teen Creepshots, where thousands of threads contain upskirt photos and videos featuring potentially underage girls wearing uniforms or shopping, women on public transportation, or simply random street shots were available for viewing.

Many users remain unidentified; however, their photos and videos make it easy to identify where women were taken photos of. One user posted several upskirt shots of young women at a supermarket in the UK while another used public transport in Sydney as their backdrop; further posts discuss restraint among members so as not to sexually assault targets.

BADASS–Battling Against Demeaning and Abusive Image Sharing–told Motherboard that while it may not be specifically illegal to share upskirt images, doing so knowing they were unlawfully captured constitutes theft of service and would-be predatory behavior against others. Furthermore, sharing intimate photos or videos without their consent constitutes theft of service as well.