What is MaleGeneral? The gay revenge porn site which shames victims who ask for images to be removed

The victim of a gay revenge porn website has spoken out about having his image shared online without his consent, and the humiliating process involved in removing them.

MaleGeneral is a forum where users list men they know, both offline and online, and ask others to share explicit images of them. The requests often include personal information about the person, including their full name and links to their social media accounts, Dazeddigital.com reported.

The sexually explicit images shared can include nude photos exchanged in confidence on dating apps or between partners, and videos of sex acts. Men who request their images to be removed from the site by contacting an internet service provider are documented on a separate page, and labelled "turds".

The page was created in 2008 and is an offshoot of a 4Chan page dedicated to camgirls, according to Github.

Parallels have been drawn between MaleGeneral and Is Anyone Up, a pornographic site closed in 2012 after explicit images were posted on the site with malicious intent - and following email account hacks.

A man identified as Jack, in order to protect his identity told Dazeddigital.com that images he exchanged with a user on the dating app Grindr were later shared on MaleGeneral without his consent after a request featuring his personal details was posted on a forum.

He was alerted to the images by a stranger on Twitter. Jack discovered that in order for his images to be removed, he was required to post an image of himself holding a sign with his personal details. Those who performed the task in a way deemed to be incorrect by the site's operators risked being shamed on a page entitled "removal requests", according to PinkNews.com.

Jack said he was intimidated by the process, and instead hoped that the images would not be found by anyone he knew.

Jack also claimed that images of 18 year-olds were posted on the site, before being removed.

In April 2015, it became an offence to share private sexual images without the subject's consent in England and Wales. Between 2015 and May 2017, The Revenge Porn Helpline assisted 1,714 people, according to statistics obtained by The Debrief with 72% of callers being female.

Alex Haydock, a legal assistant at Open Rights Group, told Dazeddigital.com that while revenge porn victims featured on MaleGeneral could complain to the authorities, it would be difficult for victims to prove intent to cause distress.