It’s not affecting everyone on Facebook, but some users are finding their feeds overrun with “explicit hardcore porn images, photoshopped photos of celebrities such as Justin Bieber in sexual situations, pictures of extreme violence and even a photograph of an abused dog,” according to security firm Sophos.
Needless to say, those affected are upset—with many taking to Twitter to complain about “seeing a dead dog on my Facebook newsfeed” to quote one user, who pretty much sums up what everyone else is most horrified about. Another user chimed in that seeing the dog was “worse than the one of Justin Bieber holding a p—-.”
(MORE: 10 Things You Shouldn’t Do On Facebook)
Says Sophos’ Graham Cluley:
It isn’t presently clear precisely how the offending content has been spread – whether users are falling for a clickjacking scheme, are being tagged in content without their knowledge, have poorly chosen privacy settings, have been tricked into installing malicious code, or have fallen victim to another vulnerability inside Facebook itself.
Since the offensive content is affecting only some users and not others, my money’s on a rogue app (or apps). Facebook has been taking down the images as it finds them, with a company spokesperson telling CNN, “We have recently experienced an increase in reports and we are investigating and addressing the issue.” The company did not respond to our request for comment by the time of this post’s publishing.
Sophos points out Gawker’s speculation that the work might be that of Anonymous, which reportedly vowed to go after Facebook on November 5 but never did—at least, not overtly.