I Have Thoughts: AFL Private Photo Scandal
Quick FYI: All opinion-based articles will now be published as “I Have Thoughts” so you can distinguish between opinion / factual articles.
THE CONTEXT
A Google Drive folder claiming to contain 45 private and personal images of past and present AFL players has been released and circulated on the internet. These images were released illegally and the AFL Integrity Unit has announced that they are investigating the leak and have been in contact with police in various states and the eSafety Commissioner. They are also working with eSafety to have the file taken down as quickly as possible.
While the identity of all 45 images has not been confirmed, Jimmy Bartel, who has apparently been caught up in the scandal has slammed those responsible and claims that the majority of the images are fake. While a player who is also caught up in the scandal, but has not identified himself, told the Herald Sun he found it “unfair” that their privacy had been breached.
“If it gets sent to you and you send it on, you are in big, big strife and you may go to jail. My message would be this… if you get it, you forward it on at your peril. Because you’re then disseminating photos that have been illegally obtained and then you’re as liable as the person that started it. I’m being serious here, that’s big trouble.” The message came loud and clear from Garry Lyon.
NOW... I HAVE THOUGHTS (OBVIOUSLY)
And a lot of those thoughts stem from comments that I have seen online, mostly on the Facebook pages of news forums.
Firstly, I don’t think these images are real. How would a person collect 45 private images of this nature? I highly doubt that 45 past and present footy players have sent these images to one person, and I also don’t see how someone could track down people that have received these images from them. They could have hacked each person’s phone but you would have to be incredibly tech-savvy to do so and it would take up quite a lot of time. I think these images have been doctored.
The next thing: victim blaming. “It’s the player’s problem, whatever happens, is their own fault” - It’s a no from me. Even if these images were real, it’s not on the players. There is absolutely nothing wrong with sharing a private image with someone you trust, there is something wrong with illegally obtaining these images and then sharing them online. I think footy players have it conditioned into them and are smart enough to know who they could and couldn’t trust with that kind of image and would act accordingly.
And the people who comment things like “Just play football! Who cares!!” - would you be saying the same thing if it was 45 women who had their images illegally shared across the internet? Would you be saying the same thing if one of those footy players was your son? No, you wouldn’t be.
Having private images released online at any point in time, for any person is a distressing and upsetting experience. This has only been amplified more by the fact that these men have a following and a high-stakes career. These images probably aren’t even of them, but their name has been associated with it, so there has already been a hit to their reputation and they will no doubt be stuck with that association for not only their career but their life.
Look, in summary, these players don’t have anything to be ashamed or sorry about. You don’t send a cheeky pic with the intention of it hitting the internet and it doing the rounds. This is on the people that have illegally leaked the folder, you’ve got to assume with malicious intent. The police are very good at tracking these sorts of things down, and I hope they do catch this person or the people responsible.
