Platform that sold stolen sexual images of women and girls shut

PARIS: A joint French-US operation has shut down several websites associated with an online platform that sold private sexual content stolen from over 17,000 women worldwide, law enforcement authorities in both countries said Wednesday (Oct 7).

Two brothers, aged 21 and 25, were arrested in northern France on Tuesday on suspicion of having been the "main administrators" of the NudeLeaksTeens platform, a statement from the Paris prosecutor's office said.

The platform sold "packs" of images and videos of thousands of women and girls stolen from sources including hacked accounts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.

More than 17,000 women of all nationalities were affected, the prosecutor's office said, some of whom were children.

The US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said in a separate statement that the site "offered for sale sexually explicit images and videos of children".

It said the platform sold its content in specific albums, including one advertised as containing "6,200 private nude files" of mostly American teenagers or adults from hacked accounts, including child sexual abuse material.

French investigators also seized digital assets including bitcoin worth more than 700,000 euros.

Users on the platform were encouraged - in exchange for virtual currency - to provide identifying information about each victim, who were listed individually by their real names and categorised by age, location and occupation.

French prosecutors said the operation was part of a joint effort with US law enforcement to "combat child pornography, as well as the distribution and sale of stolen private sexual content involving women".