The AFL Players Association expressed its outrage about the “appalling and disgusting act”.Credit:Paul Rovere
There were no demands for money or any indication as to what motivated the decision to collect and leak the material.
The AFL Players Association,which expressed its outrage about the “appalling and disgusting act”,has been in contact with the victims to offer wellbeing and other support.
Some players caught up in the leak have responded to the association seeking advice on what options were available to them.
Google data shows the increase in online searches for the AFL Google Drive scandal.
Clubs have also contacted players affected to determine what action,if any,they may wish to take and to support them.
Asher Flynn,a professor of criminology who is leading research into the prevention of image-based cybercrime in Australia,said she would not be surprised if there was no police investigation into the leak.
“Only in the sense that it’s very difficult for police in terms of prosecuting or investigating these types of crimes,” Flynn said.
Professor Asher Flynn.Credit:Eamon Gallagher
“There’s jurisdictional issues – we don’t know the location of where the perpetrator or perpetrators might be. There’s also limitations in being able to pinpoint who’s done it.”
Flynn also noted that not all victims of image-based abuse want to go through a criminal justice process.
It is a criminal offence to distribute,or threaten to distribute,explicit images of a person without their permission. The offence of distributing carries a maximum jail term of two years,while threatening to distribute can result in up to one year in prison.
The players affected by the leak could try to seek compensation through a civil lawsuit,but restraints in the legislation could complicate matters.
Margalit Lawyers managing principal Michel Margalit said there was no statutory law of privacy in Victoria which limited people’s ability to sue others for serious privacy breaches.
“[The AFL leak] is just another example of why legislation needs to be introduced and enacted to protect the privacy of the everyday individual but also vulnerable public figures,” Margalit said.
To file a civil lawsuit,the players would need to name those responsible for the anonymous leak,which would rely on Google releasing the IP address of the account holder.
“If this person was silly enough not to use encryption on their IP address,you could actually locate them and take civil action,” Shine Lawyers special counsel Ashleigh Kemp said.
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“Whether or not they would be awarded damages for emotional distress,that’s more of a question mark.”
The players could also seek compensation through the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal.
It is not known who is behind the drive link,or when and where it started circulating. However,by Wednesday,before news of the leak broke,the link was being widely circulated among WhatsApp group chats.
The material shows content that was first uploaded in 2017 and last updated in April. The owner of the files is listed under the pseudonym “Sue Somebody”. Efforts appear to have been made to remove other identifying details of the owner.
Despite pleas from the league and players association for the public to respect the privacy of the victims,Google searches for the collection of explicit images and videos linked to AFL players spiked,and topped queries about the Ashes,rental crisis and the Voice.
AFL Hall of Famer Jimmy Bartel condemned whoever was behind the collection of files,and said it should now be a criminal matter.
“It’s gross ... It’s someone grubby who will hopefully get caught,” Bartel told 3AW.
Essendon coach Brad Scott described the leaking as “unsavoury”,while St Kilda coach Ross Lyon called the incident “nasty”.
With Calum Jaspan