Google responds to $114 million lawsuit threat over hacked celebrity photos

FACED with a $114 million lawsuit over hacked celebrity photos, Google says they’re trying hard to delete the nude snaps from sites and search engines.

MUNICH, GERMANY - APRIL 07: Actress Kate Upton attends the German premiere of the film 'The Other Woman' (German title: Die Schadenfreundinnen) at Mathaeser Filmpalast on April 7, 2014 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Hannes Magerstaedt/Getty Images)

GOOGLE has responded to threats of a $US100 million ($114 million) lawsuit from female celebrities whose nude or private images were hacked and shared online.

“We’ve removed tens of thousands of pictures — within hours of the requests being made — and we have closed hundreds of accounts,” a spokesperson for the company told The New York Post in a statement. “The internet is used for many good things. Stealing people’s private photos is not one of them.”

Hacked stars sue Google for $US100 million

Images of stars including Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Amber Heard, Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez and Cara Delevingne have gone viral in what is said to be the biggest celebrity hacking scandal in history.

On October 1, Hollywood lawyer Marty Singer, who represents a dozen of the hacked women, sent Google a letter claiming the internet giant failed “to act expeditiously, and responsibly to remove the images, but in knowingly accommodating, facilitating, and perpetuating the unlawful conduct. Google is making millions and profiting from the victimisation of women.”

Out there ... Jennifer Lawrence is one of the actresses caught up in the photo hacking scandal. Picture: Getty

Singer wrote that the law firm sent a notice to remove images four weeks ago, and a dozen more since, but many of the images are still on Google sites BlogSpot and YouTube.

Singer adds, “Google knows the images are hacked stolen property, private and confidential photos and videos unlawfully obtained and posted by pervert predators who are violating the victims’ privacy rights … Yet Google has taken little or no action to stop these outrageous violations.”

Nude photos of Lawrence, Upton and Dunst appeared on 4chan, Reddit and other sites in early September. Three weeks later, another round of pictures hit the internet, including private photos of Rihanna, Amber Heard and Kim Kardashian.