How Khloe Kardashian removed a photo of herself from the internet

The youngest sister of the Kardashian family, Khloe Kardashian, as well as her team have been attempting to remove an un-edited picture of herself from the internet which was posted on social media by her grandmother.

The picture has been circulating social media since it was shared on Instagram, and some of Khloe’s fans have been creating side-by-side comparisons of the picture, with the other “edited” pictures that Khloe has posted on her own accord on social media.

“Khloe looks beautiful but it is within the right of the copyright owner to not want an image not intended to be published taken down,” says Tracy Romulus, chief marketing officer from KKW Brands.

Khloe took to Instagram to post a live video of herself, where she showed her fans her “real” body.

“The photo that was posted this week was beautiful, but as someone who has struggled with body image her whole life, when someone takes a photo of you that isn’t flattering in bad light or doesn’t capture your body the way it is after working hard to get it to this point – and the shares it to the world – you should have every right to ask for it not to be shared – no matter who you are.” said Khloe on her Instagram live.

 

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A post shared by Khloé Kardashian (@khloekardashian)

Since then, people have taken  to twitter to rant about their accounts being locked for reposting the image, and have also said how they have been requested to takedown any posts relating to the image, from a Los Angeles law firm named Lavely & Singer P.C.

Woke up to a locked page this morning Courtesy of the Kardashian’s lawyer ???????????? pic.twitter.com/o4jACtvUAk

— PLASTIC SURGERY CONSULTANT (@KosmeticKrys) April 7, 2021

Many of Khloe’s fans were left perplexed at the fact that the Kardashians went to such strong measures to take the un-edited picture from social media, because picture was a wildly celebrated realistic picture of the reality TV star.

I don’t understand what world the kardashians live in… Khloe, sis… no one cared how the photo looked, you’re beautiful! No one asked for you to prove you can hit your angles in a low lit bathroom. …Therapy is cheaper than litigation.

— Mia K. (@miakhalifa) April 8, 2021

me seeing khloe’s filtered video and 4-slide explanation no one wanted for an unedited pic everyone loved pic.twitter.com/proAsBGJ5I

— aimée♡ (@aitothemai) April 8, 2021

Woke up to a locked page this morning Courtesy of the Kardashian’s lawyer ???????????? pic.twitter.com/o4jACtvUAk

— PLASTIC SURGERY CONSULTANT (@KosmeticKrys) April 7, 2021

It may be too hard to tell if the picture can be completely taken down from the internet, with no traces of it on social media, because although the court order has been issued for a social media takedown, some websites could choose to not comply.

According to Minclaw.com, cases can arise where court orders are just not effective enough to allow for the action of takedowns to take place.

Here is a list of the pros and cons of court orders issued for the takedown of content on social media:

Pros

• They are broadly accepted and followed by most internet service providers;
• There is no limit to the types of claims that can be brought to obtain the court order;
• It can directly confront and eliminate the problem at its source;
• Can de-index content from search results when it cannot be removed at its source

Cons

• Not all websites remove content when they receive a court order and may have;
• You are not guaranteed to get one. You have to win a lawsuit;
• May not cure the problem if you do not identify or directly confront the defendant;
• The risk of drawing unwanted attention and causing the Streisand Effect, making the defamatory matter a public record

The picture may now be experiencing the Streisand Effect, which is a social phenomenon that happens when an attempt to remove or censor information has unintended consequences of further spreading the awareness of that information throughout the internet.

The term originated from the incident where Barbra Streisand tried to suppress pictures that were taken of her house by getting legal action against the photographer. The lawsuit received a lot of traction from the public, which resulted in more people having knowledge about the pictures and visiting the website to see the pictures.

Compiled by Lerato Maimela