An exhibit in Hepp's lawsuit shows an archived version of the now-defunct Reddit post which linked to her image, which Hepp says was shared without her consent. A Philadelphia TV news anchor has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Facebook, Reddit and other popular websites for allegedly allowing the misuse of her image on their platforms in inappropriately sexualized manners.
The photo also appeared in a deliberately sexualized manner on Imgur, an image hosting platform, with the descriptor"milf" attached to it, suggesting that Hepp was a sexually desirable older woman. The lawsuit contends that the use of such language was in fact"derogatory and degrading," implying that Hepp was sexually compatible with"young children." As of press time, the photo was still live on Imgur's website.
The photo was also contained in an album on the porn site XNXX. The current status of the image on that website is unknown. While social media companies enjoy generous protections from civil liability due to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, Hepp's suit may be able to exploit a narrow exception in that statute which safeguards lawsuits filed under the auspices intellectual property law.