Microsoft joins effort to curb 'revenge porn'

Microsoft announced Wednesday it was joining an effort to curb so-called "revenge porn," by helping victims remove links to sexually explicit images of them posted without their consent.

"When someone shares intimate images of another person online without that person's consent, the effects can be truly devastating," said Microsoft chief online safety office Jacqueline Beauchere in a blog post.

"Unfortunately, revenge porn is on the rise across the globe. 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 led to suicide."

Beauchere said Microsoft has honored requests to take down such content, but that it has now established a new reporting page that makes the process easier.

The page is currently available in English "and will be expanded to other languages in the coming weeks," Beauchere said. "When we remove links or content, we will do so globally."

Google, Twitter, Reddit and others have implemented similar policies.

"Clearly, this reporting mechanism is but one small step in a growing and much-needed effort across the public and private sectors to address the problem," Beauchere said.

"It's important to remember, for example, that removing links in search results to content hosted elsewhere online doesn't actually remove the content from the Internet -- victims still need stronger protections across the Web and around the world."