UPDATE: Sept. 24 -- The website EmmaYouAreNext.com, which previously claimed it would leak nude photos of Emma Watson and was believed to have been created by 4chan users, turned out to be a hoax by social media marketing firm Rantic , which apparently has aims to shut down 4chan. As of Wednesday morning, EmmaYouAreNext.com redirected visitors to Rantic's website.
The thing is, Rantic might not even exist. The company claims to have been hired by celebrity publicists to campaign against the leaking of celebrities' nude photos. But Business Insider reports that Rantic is actually part of a larger online hoax. "Rantic Marketing is a fake company run by a gang of prolific internet spammers used to quickly capitalize on internet trends for page views," writes Business Insider.
Previously:
Internet trolls are threatening to leak nude photos of Emma Watson, in response to a speech on gender equality the actress delivered at the United Nations headquarters over the weekend
Members of the anonymous message board 4chan, largely at the center of the recent hacking schemes that leaked nude photos of celebrities including Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton, have apparently set up a website called EmmaYouAreNext.com. The mostly empty page bears 4chan's logo, a blurry photo of Watson's head and a timer clock counting down to midnight EST on Sept. 24.
An earlier version of the site said the countdown would end later this week. The times have apparently been adjusted.
It's unclear how serious the threat is.
Death and Taxes magazine printed some of the comments that were posted to 4chan after Watson's speech.
"That feminist bitch Emma is going to show the world she is as much of a whore as any woman," one read, in part.
"She makes stupid feminist speeches at UN, and now her nudes will be online, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH," read another.
During her Sept. 20 speech, the 24-year-old Watson, who is the Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women, explained her personal investment in spreading feminism. Those words resonate even stronger now.
"[T]he more I have spoken about feminism the more I have realized that fighting for women's rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop," she said.
"I decided I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word," she went on to say. "Apparently I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, anti-men and unattractive.”
Feminist supporters are rallying behind Watson, lambasting the threats as further examples of why the fight for gender equality is as important now as ever.
Emma Watson, like so many other women online, is being silenced and kept in her place with misogyny as a weapon.
— Elizabeth Plank (@feministabulous) September 22, 2014
“If her stolen nude photos are leaked on the Internet in retaliation for her work, that will not mean that she was irresponsible or reckless, it will mean that she is brave,” Amanda Taub wrote on Vox. “Regardless of whether any photos are released, the threats against Watson are already an attack on all of us. And we should all take it personally.”
WATCH Watson's UN speech below.
This post has been updated with additional information about Rantic.