I’m not going to name names here, because there’s multiple places doing this and also I forgot what instance I saw it on, but I’ve noticed something disturbing with the automated repost bots. You know, those bots that copy whole Reddit communities over to Lemmy with tons of automated posts? I don’t like them in general because when I reply to a post I like the OP to actually see my reply, but this issue is more ethical. It’s the automated duplication of porn from Reddit to Lemmy.
Now, I know that these models have consented to their images being shared on the internet. However, in my own personal opinion, porn models should have some amount of control over the manner in which their image is shared on a public forum. In this case, the people posting their naked bodies do not have control over how the image is shared. They can’t decide to delete it if they revoke consent later, and they can’t report creepy comments on their pictures. In most cases, they probably don’t even know what Lemmy is, and yet their images are getting search indexed and shared with people. There’s no creative control over the distribution by the person whose body is in the picture. I consider that a form of non-consensual intimate media. I don’t think these bots should be allowed to repost porn without asking the permission of the user who originally shared the media.
Most, if not all of these images are hosted through i.reddit.com or imgur, which will stop working if the original reddit or imgur, etc post is taken down as well.
That way, OP on Reddit still remains in control even if unaware of the bot.
It doesn’t stop someone from saving the image or video and republish somewhere else without OP consent (either here or on Reddit, etc). But that’s not what the bot is doing, it’s simply linking to the original source.