Headquartered in Redmond, Wash., Microsoft Corporation develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services. (Photo : Reuters)
Microsoft is following what Google did in June to battle revenge porn. Microsoft said on Wednesday that it would remove from its Bing search engine, Xbox Live and OneDrive links to content showing intimate images that were posted without the permission of the people in the photos.
The tech giant created a reporting page where victims of revenge porn could request for removal of content. "As a first step, we want to help put victims back in control of their images and their privacy," Jacqueline Beauchere, chief online safety officer of Microsoft, blogged, reports ABC.
For now, the form is only in English language, but it would soon expand and have other languages option in the next few weeks to extend the service to a global audience. Bing and Google control 90 percent of the search market in the U.S.
Beauchere points out that victims of revenge porn are on the rise across the world. "It can damage nearly every aspect of a victim's life: relationships, career, social activities. In the most severe and tragic cases, it has even lead to suicide," she adds, quotes Heraldrecorder.
Reddit and Twitter have initiated similar changes earlier, in February and March, respectively. Facebook has also put in place a similar policy.
Other countries and states in the US have passed laws that made it a crime to post intimate images as revenge porn. However, going to court could be expensive and time-consuming, and the images remain in the Internet while the case is ongoing. The reporting page by Microsoft and action taken by the other search engines or social media sites provide a swifter alternative course of action for revenge porn victims.
