It’s difficult to imagine a time when social media wasn’t a useful tool to keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues or, depending on your point of view, the symbol of a collapsing, intolerant society; but as certain risks attached to the rise of these platforms began manifesting themselves more than 10 years ago, K&L Gates jumped on an opportunity to lead the pack when it came to social media, privacy and revenge porn laws.
For the past decade, the firm has been offering pro bono services to those who need help removing instances of revenge porn, defined as sexually explicit images posted on the internet without the subject’s consent, from the web. In total, more than 400 volunteers from 33 of K&L Gates’ global offices have dedicated more than 28,000 hours to its Cyber Civil Rights Project, leveraging legal expertise, including in litigation and intellectual property, to help clients lacking in resources.