Peloton vows crackdown on porn images in user profile pics
Peloton is pledging to take action after several users went online and reported that pornographic images were popping up in profile photos.
“Today, Peloton is taking active action against accounts being intentionally created with inappropriate content, including explicit imagery in their profile picture,” Peloton told its customers in an email.
The statement said the explicit images, which have been reported by subscribers on Reddit, violate the company’s terms of service.
Peloton said it was working to block the accounts — many of which have no followers and often link to a website.
The company wants customers to report anyone found to have used racy photos in their profile pictures.
Peloton users took to the r/pelotoncycle Reddit page to report the racy images, which are likely the product of spam and bot accounts.
“Has anyone else seen seen spam users? I just had a notification to say I had a new follower (I have zero followers as I haven’t linked to socials),” wrote one user, who added: “The profile photo is a nude girl and the bio includes a link to her online spaces.”
Several users said they had the same issue, with one of them writing: “I got one too. She had her whole ti—-s out! Didn’t think nudity could go in a profile picture.”
Another user wrote: “My husband got two naked lady requests today. None for me though.”
Peloton is encouraging its subscribers to flag inappropriate images to [email protected]. It has also provided a form to report problematic accounts.
“We apologize to those of you who received these follower requests and were exposed to this content,” the company told its customers.
“This is certainly not the community experience we expect for our Peloton Members.”
The home fitness company has fallen on hard times since the lifting of COVID lockdown measures.
Peloton was one of the biggest beneficiaries of lockdowns as its connected exercise bikes and treadmills became all the rage among stuck-at-home fitness enthusiasts.
However, the pandemic-induced momentum in sales soon petered out with the reopening of gyms and fitness centers, pushing the company into a string of quarterly losses and forcing it to take drastic measures to cut costs.
Peloton said in February it was cutting about 2,800 jobs to revitalize sagging sales and win back investor confidence. That was followed by the cutting of 570 jobs in its Tonic Fitness Technology unit in July and 800 jobs at the company in August.
With Post wires