In Which We Argue You Should Think Twice Before Searching For Those Naked Jennifer Lawrence Pictures

It's been about 10 hours since news broke that a hacker, using weaknesses in Apple's iCloud software, leaked 60 naked photos of Jennifer Lawrence via 4Chan. Now, what's fucked up – beyond this hacker exploiting someone in the public eye who's doing some very private things – is that so many of you reading that first sentence, or whichever sentence or uttering broke the news of the leak to you, will have Googled the images.

There's a curiosity there and we can't exactly blame you. Firstly, with Jennifer Lawrence's name trending on Twitter, it's almost impossible to not click on her name and see the images (clue, hide your inline photos). Secondly, you might think if this is going to be such a hot talking topic, you should be as informed as possible. You can't say how horrible the photos are if you haven't seen them, right?

Wrong. The photos could feature Jennifer Lawrence putting a hair curler in her bumhole (that's one rumour going round to get people looking at the images) for all we care, but as long as they're shared without her permission, they're a horrible invasion of her privacy. You don't have to look at the photos to know that. Some might say that to stop the photos being leaked in the first place she should never have taken them, but by the same logic it could be supposed that she should just never be naked. Because if you never take your clothes off no one will ever see you naked, right? Well, where does this blaming stop?

The hacker's aim is to leave Jennifer – and the 100 other female celebrities whose accounts he's hacked – feeling like everyone in the world has seen intimate moments of her life. Every time another person looks at another photo, they're helping the hacker get one step closer to that goal.

It's grim that by simply looking at something you're hurting someone, a woman whose only crime is to entertain in a world that is so in need of some light relief. But there is some positivity to come from the leak. Just a bit.

As well as Twitter promising to suspend the accounts of anyone who posts the nude images of Jennifer Lawrence, her people have released a strongly worded statement. 'This is a flagrant violation of privacy. The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence.'

By stating that the images are of Jennifer, her people are saying there should be no shame in what she's done – and there shouldn't. By threatening legal action, they've prompted a nicer side of Twitter to emerge.

Hopefully this attitude sets a precedent for the way the internet will treat the other 100 female celebrities who the hacker claims he'll be releasing nude images of. However, with the whole 'it's gross but isn't she fit?' argument being the most prolific out there on social media, it looks like we've got some way to go before people realise that these photos are simply not meant to be looked at. All we can say now is, if you haven't already looked at them, then don't.

Like this? Then you might be interested in:

Real Life Relationship Advice We Can Take From The Reactions To Jennifer Lawrence And Nicholas Hoult's Break Up

The Mocking Of This 16-Year-Old Alleged Rape Victim On Social Media Is All Sorts Of Wrong

Post-Viral Syndrome: How It Really Feels To Get Trashed On The Internet

Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.