This story discusses issues of online sexual harassment and what is common referred to as sextortion. If you or someone you know is loking for online resources to better understand about and protect yourself and others from online predators and cyber sextortion, you can visit InternetSafety101.org for more information.
Actress Jenna Ortega is opening up about her decision to quit social media, highlighting a pervasive issue when it comes to online safety and virtual sexual harassment and abuse.
In a recent interview for the latest episode of The Interview podcast with The New York Times, the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice actress said that when she was just 14 years old she was sent explicit, digitally altered images of herself online via X, formerly known as Twitter.
“I hate AI,” Ortega said on the podcast. “Did I like being 14 and making a Twitter account because I was supposed to, and seeing dirty edited content of me as a child? No. It's terrifying. It's corrupt. It's wrong. It's disgusting.”
The actress went on to say that the "problem" is that as a society we have "opened Pandora's box" when it comes to artificial intelligence, revenge porn and images that have been digitally altered or shared without a person's permission.
"It is what it is. It's out there now," the actress continued. "We're gonna have to deal with the consequences.”
Ortega then detailed an incident that happened when she was just 12 years old.
“One of the first actually, the first DM that I ever opened myself when I was 12 was an unsolicited photo of a man's genitals, and that was just the beginning of what was to come,” Ortega explained.
“I ended up deleting (my social media account) about two, three years ago because the influx, after (the Netflix series Wednesday) had come out, of these absurd images and photos. They're just so repulsive, and I already was in a confused state that I just deleted it because it was unnecessary, and I didn't need that.
“It's awful, she continued. "So one day, I just woke up and I thought, 'Oh, I don't need this anymore.' So I dropped it."
One 2023 study published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior found that 75% of young people have been the victims of "cyberflashing," meaning they have been sent unsolicited, sexually explicit content.
Numerous studies have also highlighted the prevalence of what is now referred to as revenge porn, meaning the distribution of sexually explicit images or videos of individuals without their consent.
According to a 2016 study by the Data and Society Research Institute, around 10 million Americans were victims of non-consensual image sharing. An additional 2019 study suggested that the number of victims has since increased by 400%, while other studies have found that up to 1 in 5 adults may be victims of revenge porn during their lifetime.
While Ortega quit social media, she did say she recognizes how artificial intelligence can be used in positive, life-changing ways, including detecting breast cancer before it progresses.
“That's beautiful … Let's keep it to that," she said. I would like [AI] to be used with good intent, but we could say that about anything and everything."
