Emma Watson threat looks like it was a marketing hoax

[Bonobo]

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/976588-emma-watson-nudes-nope-naked-pictures-threat-from-4chan-after-speech-is-a-hoax/

The purported Emma Watson nude photos don’t seem to exist and the threat to release them appears to be based on a hoax.

The purported threat came as dozens of women have fallen victim to the massive celebrity hacking scheme in the last few weeks, with hundreds of images circulating online.

Watson was reported to have been targeted by people who got mad at her speech, with a website called “Emma Watson is Next” appearing. Reports about the threat featured comments from 4chan and Reddit users claiming that they would target Watson, with the primary focus of the reports being the website.

“There is evidence that the emmayouarenext.com website is hosted by Rantic and that they have a recent history of inventing stories of this nature, they even reused the 4chan + hacker angle from a previous promotion,” the user said.

“It seems the whole point of marketing these days is to sell lies to as many people as possible and this particular campaign appears to have done that very successfully.”

[Cerridwen]

1. Were the replies to the hoax part of the hoax? Or did 4chan do those all on their own?

Were the replies to the hoax part of the hoax? Or did 4chan do those all on their own?

A few outlets noting that it was probably a hoax also reported on the responses;

“It is real and going to happen this weekend. That feminist bitch Emma is going to show the world she is as much of a whore as any woman.”

“in a documentary about the royal family and the media, she was included explained how the paparazzi were hunting her down for upskirt pics and etc, they where waiting patiently for her 18th birthday to hit so they could act like shameless savages , and when it hit, so they did , they laid down on the floor in the streets and such to snap photos of her…
she is a delicate flower and it is time for her fans to see her in full bloom, unlike your shitty cow tit attention whore there”

“she makes stupid feminist speeches at UN, and now her nudes will be online, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH”

Those aren’t even the bad ones. There are others that actually get violent, which I will not be posting. I’m also not linking to the board, as it contains really disturbing images.

From this link: http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/228407/4chan-threatens-emma-watson-with-nude-photo-leak-over-un-speech-on-gender-equality/

The paragraph before this quote above includes speculation about the hoax nature of the website now being reported as a hoax.

The website may have been a marketing hoax, were the responses from 4chan members part of the hoax? I doubt it given their history.


cross posted to LBN thread reporting same.

[Dorian Gray]

2. Those responses

made my human beings make me shudder at the thought that they are walking amongst us.

Disgusting. I wouldn't want to read worse.

[Cerridwen]

3. I agree. Unfortunately, I have read worse.

Truly disgusting, but obvious. Sometimes, the more dangerous are the ones who speak "reasonably" so they can be "given the benefit of the doubt."

[Dorian Gray]

4. It's always

shocking to me to read things like that. I don't know how others can dehumanize any group of people like that.

[DavidG_WI]

79. It's called trolling for a reaction for a reason. You took the bait, so it worked.

Just like Osama Bin Laden's game was breaking us morally and financially by getting us to go after him militarily. Go ask Thom Hartmann to read word for word what OBL said, he got what he wanted in spades.

[Cerridwen]

82. Actually, 4chan was trolled and took the bait. I've been offline for 2 weeks-ish.

I was killing time yesterday morning for the first time in a while and noticed 4chan's response to the trolling; and, of course, some DUers defense of same. 4chan got punked and responded based on their biases. Their responses were disgusting. Getting punked is no excuse.

[Skidmore]

5. Does that make it a better or more acceptable form of harrassment?

It still is a vile act made by vile people.

[Bonobo]

6. Not at all.

But is it OKAY if we actually try to correct false news here, or is that not okay?

[DavidG_WI]

72. It won't stop a certain set...

of DU users that go out looking to be offended at everything to still find a reason to be offended by this.

[enough]

7. I don't understand what they are "marketing."

Who is marketing what to whom? Can someone explain this to an old person? Thanks.

[Iggo]

9. If the entire internet and global media weren't salivating over...

...possible nude pics of Emma Watson, they'd've seen they were getting played.

(And maybe they did see it, but they're addicted to the clicks, just like any other website owner... )

[LittleBlue]

11. Yep. Trolled again

The media and their sheep are so gullible.

[pnwmom]

22. Emma Watson got tormented by these "pranksters" because she was a high profile woman.

The effect was almost as bad as if actual photos had been released. People shouldn't be so quick to dismiss the pain she's already been through.

[Kurska]

55. People are so gosh darn gullible.

We had people buying this hook line and sinker. Calling 4chan a terrorist organization and the whole shebang.

[Kurska]

60. Biggest lesson of tricking someone

Show them something that confirms their world view and narrative, and they'll buy it.

[DavidG_WI]

73. Nothing new here...

If you've been paying attention at all.

The media over reacts to unverified internet data all the time, smart trolls have been exploiting this sad state of affairs forever.

[seabeyond]

10. whether the threat is real or not is not the issue and not what the discussion is about

i am glad it is a hollow threat. i never once consider that possibility not there. that is irrelevant to me whether they are capable, or not capable of producing the picture. the fact that it is a weapon used against women to shut them up is the conversation i am having.

[The Straight Story]

13. Reminds me of the how the right changes things up when called out about fake Obama story/outrage

"So what if the story was fake, it sounds like something he would do" or "Ok, so it was all BS, but he has done other things and the whole conversation was about Obama's failings anyway - so we don't need true stories to be upset about, the fake ones are part of the discussion" and so on.

I recall discussions about the whole discussion of 'xxx said all sex is rape' when, ok no they didn't, but does it matter now if the story isn't true? It's all about the discussion - so base it off anything you want - because even if THAT outrage is something made up there are others that can take it's place.

[kcr]

17. Really? It reminds you of that?

Huh. Because using the threat of leaking private pictures is the same as Obama stories. That's interesting.

[arcane1]

31. That is not at all what they said, and you know it.

[kcr]

39. Well, you told me.

I'll just wait and let them explain themselves if you don't mind.

[Luminous Animal]

37. The threat still existed even if it was a lie. The disgusting misogynist 4chan comments to the

threat, that they believed to be true at the time, still exist.

[Luminous Animal]

52. Really Warren? Here is the thread in HoF. Not one who says 4chan should be shut down.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/125551263

[Luminous Animal]

66. The fake PR firm doesn't give a flying fuck about 4chan being shut down. Advocating for such was

botting. The more CNN, et al., said 4chan the more they profited.

[DavidG_WI]

74. Stop giving damn and it stops being effective...

It only has the power you give it and people like you give it all the power in the world.

[seabeyond]

84. bullshit. staying silent to ugly, nasty, mean.... is NEVER the answer. nt

[pnwmom]

14. Then the marketing hoax people are harassing her. That doesn't make it okay. n/t

[Luminous Animal]

15. Exactly. And the misogynist responses to the original story were frightening.

[kcr]

18. Apparently, for some, it is okay.

Not only is it okay but now it's time to somehow use it as a gotcha moment. I can almost see them gleefully dancing and giggling like they themselves pulled off this hoax.

[seabeyond]

41. serious women, doing serious work, in front of govt bodies. think sandra fluke. slut. take a video

of having sex so men can enjoy it. ect...

get off the gotcha, the not a big deal. serious women, doing serious work, in front of our govt bodies called out to degrade, shame, and sexually humiliate them.

unacceptable. and WHY are there men on this board that do not get that.

[pnwmom]

34. Calling it a hoax can mislead people into thinking she wasn't actually victimized.

She was, even though no pictures were eventually released. She was threatened, and she was threatened because she was a high profile woman who had made an important speech.

[pnwmom]

50. I'm not saying they cared about the contents of the speech. Just that she had gotten a lot of

positive attention for it, so they decided to target her.

The effect, in the end, was the same.

[seabeyond]

43. ya. here is a thread from DI. would you like to name the du men on that thread saying just that?

http://www.discussionist.com/101460198

[Luminous Animal]

44. What a disgusting website.

[seabeyond]

45. yes. and i know at least a handful are regular du men. this is what they think of women. nt

[davidn3600]

16. Apparently the marketing hoax was coordinated by celebs?

But it now appears to have been a marketing stunt by an organisation called Rantic, which aims to shut down 4chan.

The redirected page now shows a message to US president Barack Obama and calls on people to support the calls to shut down the site.

"We have been hired by celebrity publicists to bring this disgusting issue to attention," the statement said.

"The recent 4chan celebrity nude leaks in past 2 months have been an invasion of privacy and is also clear indication that the internet need to be censored."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-24/emma-watson-threats-actually-stunt-to-shut-down-4chan/5766882

[pnwmom]

19. Apparently it was NOT. It was just the work of another group of "pranksters"

who threatened a woman under the guise of protecting women.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/09/rantic-marketing-4chan-emma-watson-leak-hoax.html

Rantic itself doesn't actually exist, but is instead the work of the prolific pranksters behind another countdown hoax. Made up of people who go by the names Jacob Povolotski, Yasha Swag, Swenzy, and Joey B, the group is occasionally referred to as "Social VEVO." Last year, Social VEVO ripped copyrighted materials from Fox and created a similar countdown clock that promised to reveal information about Brian from Family Guy. That, too, was a hoax.

Convincing the internet that anonymous men would punish women with sexual and violent threats turns out to be remarkably easy, and that’s because it's completely within the realm of possibility. The fake Rantic expertly manipulated the internet outrage cycle, not because the mainstream media “listen[s] and believe[s] the feminist victimization narrative,” as one particularly obnoxious Reddit user put it, but precisely because women are regularly victimized online. Povolotski and team also managed to take advantage of 4chan’s terrible reputation and turn it against them: Of course 4chan would punish an outspoken feminist by publishing her nudes, people thought. That’s what 4chan does.

In the end, for Watson, the threat still existed, even if it didn't come from 4chan, and the message was clear: Speak out as a woman about gender equality and you'll be punished. In this way, Rantic's actions are almost as indefensible as 4chan's. Both compounded the feeling that women are not safe on the internet.

[pnwmom]

20. No, the "pranksters" weren't a marketing firm -- the firm was fake. But the pain to Watson was real.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/09/rantic-marketing-4chan-emma-watson-leak-hoax.html

How a Fake Viral Marketing Firm Convinced the Internet 4Chan Was Going to Leak Nude Photos of Emma Watson

Rantic itself doesn't actually exist, but is instead the work of the prolific pranksters behind another countdown hoax. Made up of people who go by the names Jacob Povolotski, Yasha Swag, Swenzy, and Joey B, the group is occasionally referred to as "Social VEVO." Last year, Social VEVO ripped copyrighted materials from Fox and created a similar countdown clock that promised to reveal information about Brian from Family Guy. That, too, was a hoax.

Convincing the internet that anonymous men would punish women with sexual and violent threats turns out to be remarkably easy, and that’s because it's completely within the realm of possibility. The fake Rantic expertly manipulated the internet outrage cycle, not because the mainstream media “listen[s] and believe[s] the feminist victimization narrative,” as one particularly obnoxious Reddit user put it, but precisely because women are regularly victimized online. Povolotski and team also managed to take advantage of 4chan’s terrible reputation and turn it against them: Of course 4chan would punish an outspoken feminist by publishing her nudes, people thought. That’s what 4chan does.

In the end, for Watson, the threat still existed, even if it didn't come from 4chan, and the message was clear: Speak out as a woman about gender equality and you'll be punished. In this way, Rantic's actions are almost as indefensible as 4chan's. Both compounded the feeling that women are not safe on the internet.

[AngryAmish]

21. I was taken in by the marketing firm hoax

Also taken in by the Watson nude hoax.

I'm a sucker.

[pnwmom]

23. But the part that wasn't a hoax was that she was targeted because she was a woman

and made to suffer for her brave speech.

That was reprehensible, no matter what excuses Rantic has for what they did.

[AngryAmish]

27. Rantic does not exist.

[pnwmom]

32. The "pranksters" behind Rantic exist, and they're creeps. n/t

[pnwmom]

33. But in this case they victimized an actual woman, not a cartoon character. n/t

[pnwmom]

36. The problem is that the OP didn't make the point that the damage to Watson

was substantial, no matter what the motives of the people behind the fake marketing firm's "hoax."

What isn't fake was the real pain that they caused her. So it doesn't matter whether this was done by 4chan or by the hoaxers. In both cases, the men behind this have been targeting women for their own purposes.

[seabeyond]

42. no. the probem some have in htis thread is the dismissal with hoax, you suckers. when the

issue was never 4chan, the marketer, or even watson. but the use of threats to shame, humiliate, degrade women that dare to speak out.

[Luminous Animal]

51. The vile disgusting misogynists that were cheering on this "hoax" didn't know that...

they were all for taking out the feminist b****h, c**t, the s**t...

You are seriously downplaying the effect that this kind of behavior has on all women.

Look at it this way, (if the internet existed back then), MLK makes a speech for racial equality and justice, a fake PR firm posts a countdown of the days in which they are going to humiliate him and a subset of the internet responds with, can't wait to take the n****r, c**n, p**********y down.

Such vitriol, whether spurred on by a hoax or reality is damaging to a community. It puts both the individual and those who support the individual's ideology on alert and invites vulnerability and anxiety for the 'every person' to express similar ideas in the public square.

Or this. I am very active in social justice issues in my community. Suppose someone posts a notice on my door that they have damaging information against me, and other anonymous people sign below, "Yeah, let's take out b****h, c**t, s**t...

I'd have serious concern for my family and my similarly involved citizens.

Coming back 3 days later and saying, "Haha! It was just a joke!", wouldn't make it any better.

And finally, you keep losing track that a person was threatened. Human beings stood up against that threat. The motives are irrelevant.

[seabeyond]

53. he is not merely downplaying. he is purposely ignoring. it has been made clear

many times. example given. this is not the first. this will not be the last. he doesnt care.

nude pictures, OMG....

fuck that shit. it is not a threat to him or any man for that matter, privacy being invaded for the purpose to humiliate and degrade.

real fuckin easy to ignore.

then lecture others why they should not be bothered.

[Luminous Animal]

57. Yep.

[Luminous Animal]

63. Perhaps not lecturing but attempting to lead the conversation away from a

very important social justice issue. Making it more about the prank than the consequences of the prank.

[JTFrog]

64. Every fucking day.

The same people show up time and again, and I do mean over and fucking over again, to downplay women's issues and demean the people who dare to speak out against the fucked up shit going on. Do these guys think people don't see them in every thread about rape, misogyny, violence and the objectification of women? Seriously? And the worst offenders somehow think we should be including them in the conversation and calling them feminists.

Fuck sakes.

[Luminous Animal]

62. The motives are clear, Warren. Profit at the expense of a feminist. Most feminists realized that

the threat was hollow. What horrified them was the vile woman-hating response.

And yes. You and I have already discussed right wing Libertarian Cathy Young's dishonest interpretation of some feminists' response to the Oberst accusation. Which, of course, as the right wing does, is based on lies.

Apparently, you continue to believe and amplify this right-wing Libertarian distortion.

[JI7]

29. so it's like the right wing going on about some Michelle Obama "whitey video"

?

[Luminous Animal]

40. No, because the threat actually existed even if it was a lie.

[DavidG_WI]

70. Honorable Judge...

Whitey?

[sabrina 1]

65. What's wrong with being naked? What a Puritanical society we live in. Maybe if we

didn't reach for the smelling salts every time someone wears a bikini these scammers wouldn't be able to 'market' anything. A huge big yawn is the correct reaction to anyone 'threatening' to show someone naked.

[DavidG_WI]

75. And theres plenty here playing a fine outro indeed. nt

[seabeyond]

85. that you support the meme of arent we all fools, as a woman is publicly threatened says a hell of a

lot.

oh wait. privileges denied. a troll. gone. no surprise.

About DavidG_WI

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[sabrina 1]

86. It seems that way. They probably had that all figured out when they

decided to play this game. I would say that a vast majority of the world's population has greater concerns and probably doesn't even know about this. I wouldn't since I don't read tabloids or search for news of naked people, except for DU where I can always count on learning about things I have little or no interest in.

[seabeyond]

87. we are talking about a womans consent. not nudity.

[seabeyond]

89. i specifically addressed sabrina taking it to nudity. it was never about mere nudity as you both

are aware. just anther failed attempt to redirect. it is about consent

[DavidG_WI]

69. Not surprising in the least...

since sex sells and news of nudes, fake or real is an assured way to get you name out there without having a drug problem that has you doing something moronic then going to rehab every 3 months...

Case in point, 3 breast lady hoax.

So no, this isn't "marginalizing rape" this is the modern version of the same old Hollywood bullshit of who is sleeping with who.

[DavidG_WI]

77. Both of them where...

The recent one and the porn one from a few years back.

[JTFrog]

83. And so were you....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=311885&sub=trans

[LeftishBrit]

80. Update on this from the Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/sep/24/threat-post-naked-photographs-emma-watson-hoax-4chan

But in a series of bizarre twists, a website claiming to belong to an online marketing company said on Wednesday that it had made up the threat as a publicity stunt to shut down the notorious messageboard 4chan – only for further claims to emerge that the entire episode was the work of hoaxers. In fact, neither the marketing company – nor the naked photographs – appear to exist.

What now appears to be a tasteless online spoof first emerged on Saturday, when a website entitled EmmaYouAreNext.com appeared featuring an image of the actor next to a countdown.

....But despite the site’s claim to be defending the honour of suffering “ladies”, the website Business Insider claims that Rantic.com itself does not exist, and is instead the work of a group of internet hoaxers called SocialVevo, whose motive is to capitalise on internet trends to gain page views.

Attempts to contact Rantic.com online are met by an error message. A spokesman for Emma Watson said she would not be making any comment on the episode.

[LeftishBrit]

81. Which of course DOESN'T mean that there are no sexist threats to women on the Internet

Just as some people make false fire alarms to get attention or cause disruption; that doesn't mean that fires don't exist.

The Internet certainly makes hoaxes of all sorts easier. Reports of an imaginary site reporting imaginary threats; that is meta-hoaxing.