Athletes’ photos on sex sites ignite anger, issues

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There’s an excellent investigation in The Register called ‘Secret Snapshots’ by Dan Albano and Scott Reid. It’s about photos of Southland water polo players that have appeared on gay-oriented websites.

It’s a story that’s ripe with discussion fodder about freedom of speech, the legality of using photos of private persons from public events for financial gain, the implication of photos of minors (although clothed) on adult sites (or those popular with pedophiles), the morality of including unsuspecting athletes on sex sites, photo restrictions at athletic events, the limits of photo credential use and what constitutes ‘harmful’ to children.

There seems to be outrage over such activity, and justifiably so, though there also seems to be a double-standard at work here. Women in general have been taken advantage of and objectified for years; now that the shoe is on the other foot, it’s news.

-- Martin Henderson