Emma Watson's nude photo leak threat a hoax?

New York: The threat to release nude pictures of actress Emma Watson was reportedly a hoax. It is said that this is an attempt to close the image sharing site 4chan, where the hacked, naked photos of female celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence initially appeared. After her speech for gender equality last weekend at the United Nations, Watson, 24, faced backlash, including a threat from a 4chan user to leak her alleged nude photos, reported New York Daily News. [caption id=“attachment_1730091” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Courtesy: Facebook[/caption] The site mentioned in that anonymous user’s comment on 4chan, ‘EmmaYouAreNext.com’ redirects people to company Rantic Marketing with the message ShutDown4chan. “Join us as we shutdown 4chan and prevent more private pictures from being leaked. None of these women deserve this and together we can make a change,” a message on the site said. There is also a letter to President Barack Obama that reads, “We have been hired by celebrity publicists to bring this disgusting issue to attention. “The recent 4chan celebrity nude leaks in the past 2 months have been an invasion of privacy and is also clear indication that the internet needs to be censored. Every Facebook like, share and Twitter mention will count as a social signature and will be one step closer to shutting down www.4chan.org.” Visitors to the site are offered a link to send the letter to the White House. Rantic bills itself on its site as a social media marketing enterprise that has participated in some of the most viral campaigns and music videos. PTI