Law enforcement seized Anon-IB, maybe the most infamous site related to revenge porn or intimate images of people without their consent. For the time being, it is not clear if Anon-IB members will be developing an alternative website for their users.
Politie sizes Anon-IB Revenge Porn Web
Trying on the domain name of Anon-IB in the browser’s address bar is redirecting an image hosted on the official web of Politie, Cybercrime team of Dutch Police.
“Cybercrime teams from the Dutch police have seized the Anon-IB forum in an ongoing investigation concerning criminal offenses,” displays on the new site. “More information concerning this investigation will be made available on April 26, 2018.”
Later Wednesday, the site had been taken down entirely, and on Thursday, a Politie spokesperson announced the agency had seized the Anon-IB website.
The spokesperson also added that the operation was solely from Dutch authorities, and Politie could shut down Anon-IB and its servers located in the Netherlands. However, the mind behind Anon-IB, the developer, is not arrested yet. Politie has handover several Dutch users of the site. Politie is now targeting users who “actively posted and distributed illegal content on the site,” mentions the spokesperson.
“The administrator of Anon-IB did not respond to request for comment. However, an email was sent after a seizure that shows admin has access to the internet.”, reported Vice
People who have been affected by revenge porn quickly praised the Anon-IB website’s seizure.
“We at BADASS, are so thrilled to see that a law enforcement agency has heard our pleas, and has finally done something against this website,” Katelyn Bowden, creator of anti-revenge porn campaign group BADASS, and who has had her images shared on Anon-IB, told Motherboard in an email. “Anon-IB was a cancer on the internet, and needed to be removed. We are immeasurably grateful to the Dutch police and all parties who had a hand in getting anonIB shut down,”
The Netherlands aggressively pursues revenge porn compared to other countries. In 2015, it won a lawsuit over Facebook to learn the man’s identity behind sharing nudes of his ex. There is also a startup known as Leakserv, which helps users affected with revenge porn from sites like Anon-IB track and remove their images.
Anon-IB has acted as the center of revenge porn for many years, with sections dedicated to different counties and states. Not just that, but going further, they had boards dedicated to schools and universities. Many users try to trade nude and explicit women-related content and share them on the Anon-IB website.
Recently, The Daily Beast found that IP addresses linked to a slew of US government computers and institutions were connected to posts on Anon-IB. The site was one of the famous dumping grounds for pics during the Marines United Scandal.
Members of BADASS celebrated the apparent ANON-IB ban. “What a wonderful thing to wake up to! I would say that it feels like I can breathe easier and have one less thing on my mind!” Rachel, a BADASS member, told Motherboard.
But Rachel, who asked that only her first name be used for privacy reasons, emphasized that this will not solve revenge porn overall. “But as all moves/changes with Anon-IB, it makes me wonder what the next move is so that I/we can try and stay ahead of them,” she also said. “It’s something we’ve been striving towards and hoping for, so it feels good to know that, even if it is temporary, those are still crucial hours that victims are not being viewed or traded on that platform.”
Most revenge porn communities have already taken steps and moved to sites like Discord and Slack. Finally, I’d like to mention seizure of Anon-IB is indeed a victory, but the fight against revenge porn is not yet over.
