CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses image based abuse.
Adelaide-based musician aleksiah has shared an absolutely fucked story about finding out that images she had posted to her personal Instagram had been photoshopped into crude pornography ads and shared around online.
The 23-year-old singer has detailed the distressing experience which occurred when she was only 19, in her newly released song: “Pretty Picture.”
Aleksiah released the song on October 18, sharing to her fans on Instagram a warning about its content, saying it “is probably the most realistic and vulnerable I’ve ever let myself be in a while.”
“When I was 19, my personal photos were stolen, someone then photoshopped them into ‘illicit images’, and posted them on Twitter,” the singer wrote, sharing the gross photoshop in an Instagram carousel.
“When this first happened, I laughed it off and took it as a joke. But, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realised how much of an invasion of my privacy, and disrespect of my body this act was.”
A friend who stumbled across the images on Twitter reached out to her to let her know of the disrespectful act. Thankfully, the account and pictures were able to be reported, and both were taken down by Twitter.
It is illegal to create fake pornographic material of someone without their consent. More can be read on the topic of non-consensual deepfake porn here.
Aleksiah shared that she felt “embarrassment, shame, anger and confusion,” which she bottled up for many years, before finally expressing herself through her new song, as her own way of “reclaiming that sense of pride and safety”.
The song itself is an indie rock banger, and aleksiah can rest assured in knowing her music heroines of Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus would be beyond proud. Adding this one to all my playlists immediately.
Rather than retelling the traumatic story of her images being shared online, the lyrics in “Pretty Picture” remind the listener that they are a badass human and “deserve to be treated with respect.” Bloody preach.
In her most recent post to Insta, aleksiah shares her gladness at how well the song has been received: “This song started as an outlet of emotion from a confusing time in my life to so much more, and I feel really privileged to be able to not only share it, but to have it resonate with so many people, so thank you for all of your support.”
Can’t wait to hear more bangers, aleksiah!
Recording, sharing, or threatening to share an intimate image without consent is a criminal offence across much of Australia. If you’d like to report image based abuse to police or get help removing an intimate image from social media, reach out to the Australian eSafety Commissioner here.
- If you’d like to speak to someone about image based abuse, please call the 1800
- Respect hotline on 1800 737 732 or chat online.
- Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
