Emma Watson has recently been under fire from hackers after her speech for gender equality at the United Nations this past Saturday. She has been threatened with a leak of alleged nude photos: CNN reports that a 4chan user posted a countdown that hinted the "Harry Potter" actress could be the next star to have their iCloud hacked and their personal photos dispersed to the world.

4chan users have recently hacked into the photos of other celebrities, including Kim Kardashian, Gabrielle Union, and Jennifer Lawrence. So far, there is no actual evidence that nude photos of Watson exist, but the motive remains the same: the bullying of women on the Internet.

The Washington Post's Soraya Nadia McDonald commented, "It's just the latest in a long history of online efforts to intimidate, belittle, threaten, and cow women into hiding and shutting up - the message, of course, being, if you dare to do or say something we don't like, we'll expose you in return," conveying her take on the thinking behind the posts.

If anything, the horrible threats against Watson actually strengthen Watson's argument about the need for gender equality. She did not speak out against men, but rather gender inequality, saying, "[I] recently realized that fighting for women's rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop... Apparently, I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, 'too aggressive,' isolating and anti-men, unattractive even. Why has the world become such an uncomfortable one?"

Watson supports the HeForShe campaign, which is a solidarity movement for gender equality that brings together "one half of humanity in support of the other of humanity, for the entirety of humanity." She stated, "We should stop defining each other by what we are and not start defining ourselves by who we are. We can all be freer, and this is what HeForShe is about," further explaining the message of the organization.

She continued, "If men don't have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women won't feel compelled to be submissive... If men don't have to control, women won't have to be controlled. Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong... It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum, not as two opposing sets of ideals."

Obviously, the hackers at 4chan failed to understand this message. Hopefully, the backlash and threats toward Watson will lead more members of society to think about and evaluate her speech, and further understand the need for gender equality.