Anonymous social media users engage in 'Purge' to distribute revenge porn

Horror movie is inspiring cyber bullying and child exploitation, police say

MIAMI ā€“ The Federal Bureau of Investigation believes one of the people setting up anonymous social media accounts, so users can share revenge porn is in Miami.

Ever since the horror thriller film "The Purge Anarchy" was released July 18, there have been Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts being used to engage in "online purging."

"DM [Direct Message] us dirty pictures and messages of people and we'll tag them," one of the Instagram accounts said before it was taken down.

The movie is about what would happen if society would legalize crime for a day. This has prompted a viral trend of revenge porn on the web. For instance on Twitter, the anything goes attitude was associated with the hash tag "Twitter Purge."

"It appears that some of the victims affected by the incident believe that they have identified the suspect," State Attorney's Office spokesman Ed Griffith said in a press release Friday.

Outraged users created accounts to show their opposition to the "Purge" trend. On Facebook, a community named "Stop The Facebook Purge"Ā  was set up July 17 and hash tags such asĀ  "Stop The Purge" were circulating on Twitter.

"Everyone remember! We are not the bad ones," a Twitter user who was running a Purging account recently posted. "Its those who are Dming [Direct Messaging] us and sending in your nudes that are bad, so think twice of who you trust."

Revenge porn has been an issue worldwide in the last five years. With access to cell phones, high school students are moving to explore their sexuality through "sexting," which often involves photos of nudity.

When the photos are made public, the women are often humiliated and referred to as "Thots," a slang for promiscuous.

Unable to deal with the shame, several teenage girl have committed suicide after naked pictures of them were published and circulated through social media.

Authorities were looking at the postings as cases of cyber bullying. They were asking anyone with information or anyone who may have been victimized to contact local police.

"These victims should notify local law enforcement and not approach or engage the suspect in any manner," Griffith said.