A Penn State University fraternity has been suspended this week after police launched an investigation of the frat's super secret Facebook group(s), where members would post photos of unconscious, mostly naked women. The private group, known first as "Covert Business Transactions" and then later, in a different iteration, as "2.0," included images largely of women who appear incapacitated, and are believed to have been posted without the subjects' consent.
Members of the Penn State chapter of Kappa Delta Rho reportedly also posted photos of drug deals and hazing rituals online, according to a search warrant obtained by WJACTV. Police believe the first "Covert Business Transactions" was shut down and replaced after a victim in one of the photos found out about the group's existence. Officials also told WJACTV the group has an estimated 150 members, including current members of the fraternity and alumni. Both groups had been wiped clean of evidence before police were able to search several computers, however law enforcement was still able to find nearly two dozen photos of passed out, undressed women.
IFC also announced that the fraternity will be subject to a "conduct review session" at the conclusion of its investigation. Regardless of what the organization does or does not find, though, one thing is clear: if "Covert Business Transactions" did include photos of naked women taken and posted without consent, then it violated Facebook's new crystal clear restrictions on "revenge porn." It's a fast turnaround seeing those community standards get to work.
"If all we're talking about is naked pictures behind a paywall, the mayor has no issue. However, the chief will determine if there are any policy violations," a spokesperson from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey's office told FOX 9.
The package of reforms follows growing global concerns around the abuse of new technology, including the increased prevalence of deepfakes. These typically involve the use of editing software to make and share fake images or videos of a person without their consent, which are often pornographic in nature. A website that virtually strips women naked received 38 million hits in the first 8 months of 2021.
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