While government agencies try to intervene in the celebrity hacking crisis by chasing down the responsible black hat, most of the chaos surrounding the "Fappening" has already come and gone. The stolen photos hit the internet, entire communities popped up and moderators rushed in to control the mess as best they could.

In that moment of extralegal turmoil, responsibility fell on companies like Reddit, Twitter and 4chan, reminding us that the most important modern channels of communication are in the hands of a few private companies.

In response to the rapid growth of the /r/TheFappening subreddit, Reddit CEO Yishan Wong took to the official Reddit blog to explain why they would not be shutting it down. In the post, called "Every Man Is Responsible For His Own Soul," he said: