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Emma Watson has hit out at the "lack of empathy" in the commentary on social media after the publication of hundreds of explicit images of celebrities, including of her close friend, actress Jennifer Lawrence.
"Even worse than seeing women's privacy violated on social media is reading the accompanying comments that show such a lack of empathy," Watson said via her Twitter account.
Hundreds of images of female celebrities, including Jennnifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and Kirstin Dunst, were posted on image-sharing site 4chan on Sunday after hackers reportedly targeted the celebrities' personal iCloud accounts.
Watson was not among those celebrities whose private images were published.
Watson's criticism follows accusations of "victim blaming" levelled against comedian Ricky Gervais over comments he made on Twitter on Monday.
"Celebrities, make it harder for people to get nude pics of you from your computer by not putting nude pics of yourself on your computer," Gervais wrote in a tweet which he then quickly deleted.
Gervais encountered an onslaught of vitriol and ridicule after screenshots of his tweet were shared across social media sites.
Even worse than seeing women's privacy violated on social media is reading the accompanying comments that show such a lack of empathy. — Emma Watson (@EmWatson) September 1, 2014
Girls creator and co-star Lena Dunham likened comments made by Gervais and others to the type of victim blaming commentary that often accompanies the reporting of sexual assualts.
The "don't take naked pics if you don't want them online" argument is the "she was wearing a short skirt" of the web. Ugh. — Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) September 1, 2014
Seriously, do not forget that the person who stole these pictures and leaked them is not a hacker: they're a sex offender. — Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) September 1, 2014
Remember, when you look at these pictures you are violating these women again and again. It's not okay. — Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) September 1, 2014
Actress Mary Elizabeth Winestead, whose private photos with her husband were among those leaked online, condemned the "creepy efforts" of the hackers in stealing the images and lambasted the voyeurism of internet users who sought them out online. Winestead then announced she was "going on an internet break" following a backlash of abuse on Twitter.
To those of you looking at photos I took with my husband years ago in the privacy of our home, hope you feel great about yourselves. — Mary E. Winstead (@M_E_Winstead) August 31, 2014
Going on an internet break. Feel free to my @'s for a glimpse of what it's like to be a woman who speaks up about anything on twitter �� — Mary E. Winstead (@M_E_Winstead) September 1, 2014