The man behind the leak on Twitter yesterday of an embarrassing photograph of NRL star Joel Monaghan says he was surprised at how quickly his tweet spread around the country but the act was necessary to highlight the issue of animal cruelty.
Monaghan, who will now be immortalised as the man who engaged in a simulated sex act with a teammate's dog, learned the hard way that social media can be a dangerous place and indiscretions that traditionally may have remained secret can now be broadcast around the world within seconds.
WyattRoyMP - a fake Twitter profile impersonating Australia's youngest MP - was the first to publish the photo on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon and sent the link around to NRL insiders. By yesterday morning it had exploded and the scandal rocketed up into Twitter's top 10 trending topics worldwide.
The Twitter user, who spoke on condition of anonymity, would only say that he obtained the photograph from a "friend". It had been circulating around the ACT rugby league community for "the last two weeks or so".
"[Former NRL player turned Triple M presenter] Mark Geyer's response to my tweet definitely spread the word," he said in an email interview.
"After copping numerous threats I removed all pics from Twitter but left them on Twitpic."
This morning the picture had also been removed from WyattRoyMP's Twitpic account, however, many duplicates have been spreading around the web.
Canberra Raiders CEO Don Furner said yesterday he was appalled and dumbfounded by the image but appeared to blame the saga partly on social media.
"The perils of the media and social media today are a great example of why you shouldn't do it," he said.
But WyattRoyMP, who claims to possess other photos of Monaghan, said he published them only after failing to obtain a response from Furner. He said Monaghan's actions were inexcusable.
"The reason I decided to post the picture was to highlight the issue of animal cruelty. Whether it be an average Joe or NRL star, what took place in the picture is wrong," he said.
"After nothing was done regarding my concerns I decided to use Twitter to voice my concern.
"I think this situation shows that a lot of damage can be done in a very short time via social media and in some ways, it has become the first point of call for people wanting the latest info."
Social media advisor Ian Lyons, who was previously the social media director for digital marketing agency Amnesia Razorfish, said technology had fundamentally changed how quickly information can spread.
"Certainly for celebrities keepings things hidden is nowhere near as easy as it used to be. I thought Tiger Woods did a miraculous job of keeping his indiscretions quiet for so long." he said in a phone interview.
"For everyone who wants to hide things there's someone who wants to leak it and if there's an ounce of truth then it will very quickly spread."
Lyons said Monaghan did the right thing by coming out and admitting to the authenticity of the photo early, arguing it was impossible to "lie and spin our way out of these things anymore".
"You'll find that there are people who are highly motivated to weed out lies. Essentially if they're able to prove that you're lying then that gives them a lot of social currency and that motivates them to really dig and investigate and prod," he said.
Bestiality is not illegal in the ACT but the RSPCA has described the photo as "sickening and disgusting" and has reportedly written a letter to ACT chief minister Jon Stanhope demanding similar acts be outlawed in the future.
There is no mention of bestiality in the ACT Crimes Act but in the NSW Crimes Act those who commit an act of bestiality with any animal are liable to imprisonment for 14 years.
An ACT Policing spokeswoman said: "At this stage police understand the incident occurred in ACT and it does not appear that any offence has been committed under ACT laws."
Monaghan faces the sack after confirming the authenticity of the photo last night. In a statement issued through his manager Jim Banaghan he apologised for "a moment of abject stupidity" and conceded "there must be ramifications".
NRL chief executive David Gallop said he expected "appropriate action" to be taken by the Raiders.
Monaghan claimed the photos were the result of a drunken 'Mad Monday "prank" on another teammate, who appears to own the labrador pictured in the image. He now had to face his family and friends and the shame had led him to seek counselling, the statement said.
"The fact that someone has sought to compound the situation further by the use of social media only adds to the trauma but Joel accepts that it is his actions alone that are at fault," said Banaghan.
Source: The Canberra Times
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