Nude photos of female service members are being shared in a Dropbox folder called “Hoes Hoin” that circulated online through a Facebook group, Vice News reported Friday.
In the second scandal of its kind in a year, nude photos of female service members have been circulating in a Facebook group, @vicenews reports. https://t.co/2oN8Msj08o
— Axios (@axios) March 9, 2018
The 267 photos included nudes and topless photos in three different subfolders, and the women appear to be from all branches of the military, Vice said.
The all-male Facebook group “Blame Marines United (Non-Butthurt Edition)” was first to share the Dropbox link, and Vice reported that it surfaced two weeks ago. The group, which had roughly 400 members, has since been shut down by Facebook after the group was reported.
A Dropbox spokesperson said the link has since been taken down and can’t be recirculated.
“This link has been taken down and banned so it cannot be recirculated on Dropbox. As always, we investigate reports of content that violate our Acceptable Use Policy. If we find a violation, we take down the content and, when appropriate, take other measures such as banning the content and/or reporting to law enforcement,” the spokesperson told American Military News.
This follows the Marines United scandal of last year, when a private Facebook group known as “Marines United” started circulated thousands of pictures of nude female service members, veterans and civilians via Google Drive. The group, which had more than 30,000 members, was first brought to the Marine Corps’ attention when Marine veteran and journalist Thomas Brennan broke the story in early March 2017.
Vice reported that some of the newer group’s page administrators had also been group administrators for Marines United, according to three people familiar with the group’s operations.
The Marine Corps has since addressed the nude photo-sharing scandal and online harassment, most recently posting a video titled “Misconduct in the Marine Corps.”
“Last year our beloved Corps had to own some bad behavior poisoning our ranks,” says the narrator. “Nothing in our Marine Corps goes unchecked. The Corps will continue to hold offenders accountable, just as the entire nation is doing. A tank force has been formed and has implemented immediate change.”
The Marine Corps also received $18 million to address the issues, Military Times has reported; Congress also made nonconsensual nude photo sharing a criminal offense in the military this past December.
The Corps’ video points out that 55 people have been punished following the Marines United scandal, and that separation will now be processed following the first substantiated instance of sexual harassment, whether in person or online.
