Update on the leak situation: Netflix is cracking down

From what I understand it was a dubbing company that worked on many Netflix shows that was hacked and that's where the episodes came from. I hear rumours that the episodes are unfinished, still in the editing phases, but I don't know and obviously won't verify that and people saying that might be a tactic to dissuade people from looking for it, though I have seen a couple of people saying this. It seems Netflix has managed to get the original link taken down but it's going to be so hard for them to go after everyone who's spreading it.

Personally I will be trying hard to avoid seeing anything (I haven't seen anything yet, which is just lucky) so my research will suffer as a consequence. I am so addicted to Tiktok but I will have to stop using it. I don't think I can manage that for 2 months all of a sudden so I'll probably end up seeing it there when I eventually open the app and it will inevitably blast it in my face... But even if I do manage to avoid Tiktok I will end up seeing it on Twitter/X because I simply cannot stop using it. Not only am I super addicted to it anyway (especially mostly just on my Heartstopper Deepdives account) but it's my main source of info for this project. I can't even really switch to using the "following" tab (I never look there) because I see a lot of vital info from accounts I don't follow all the time. I don't know, man.

Thankfully I don't really need to be deep in the social media search scrolls right now, that is more a thing while they are filming and after the season is out... But yeah. I just know I will see the spoilers at some point and I really, really don't want to see a single frame from this. The research is going to be a bit worse until the season is out and I can go looking at stuff with intention but I think otherwise things will continue here as usual with me reporting what comes across my feeds that is NOT leaks. It goes without saying I will not be sharing anything about what is in the leaks if I end up seeing them against my will. IDK. It's funny when they accidentally show a still or two ahead of time or leak titles via stupid means like copyright restrictions but this is just so sad and I feel horrible for everyone who worked on any of the leaked shows, I can only imagine the stress they are feeling.

Thankfully the Heartstopper fandom on Twitter (because that's where I'm based mostly so that is the side I know) is mostly on the right track and the people I follow are all seemingly against the leaks. Heartstopper Tiktok has always been... Let's say, pretty bad, so I already try to avoid that side of the fandom anyway and now the whole app is going to be a mine field. Funny how the algorithm was so useful when it just showed me very useful stuff I wouldn't have even known to look for before (some things that Tiktok just showed me on its own include the videos by Benjamin Clery, the actor for the French ice cream server, and many behind the scenes videos of filming by fans). Tiktok knows I've looked for and saved Heartstopper "leaks" before so it will think I want to see this and I most certainly don't as it's not even remotely the same thing. (While people taking videos of them filming in public and posting them pre-release are kind of leaks they are not really technically even leaks because these people don't have a real obligation to keep what they see in public a secret, it's just common courtesy, whereas this is some major league privacy breech hacking stuff that actually affects how well the show will perform when it actually gets released etc.)

I know I've personally been teetering in this grey morality zone with my principle that I will look for and save everything that has come out (BUT NOT THIS) and then only share it in my videos and playlists once the season is out and those things are not spoilers anymore. In a way I'm now kind of contributing to this even more since I filmed the webcam footage of them filming in public that I have given access to here on Patreon even though I'm still only going to make the season 3 sources playlist public once the season is out. I know my need to use every bit of info means I have been somewhat complicit to the "leak" culture in my own way and other people are going to disagree on where I've personally drawn the line on this. I sort of had this principle that I would download and save "leak" posts but not like them pre-release and certainly never share them until their inclusion in the videos. Now that Twitter has hidden likes and people won't see them from there I'll sometimes like people sharing some things that I deem to be OK (like for example the latest thing I shared with the episode titles in the copyright restriction notices, I didn't think the person sharing that they got the titles spoiled that way was that bad of a thing, it's just episode titles and another episode in the running ironic joke of Netflix always accidentally revealing their own stuff about Heartstopper too early). These leaks are such a different thing and there is truly not an ounce of excitement in me nor desire to see any of it like I kind of shamefully have about the filming leaks (while also being annoyed at people posting them).

I know if the leaks truly are unfinished episodes in the editing stages there would be potential there for me to gain new info once the season is out comparing them to the final product to see what was changed. I will not be doing that. Using these leaks in any way is where I draw the hard line. I might use info I've seen from people talking about the leaks but I will not be looking at them and I sincerely hope I won't get curious after the season is out to look at them then either to compare and contrast. Even if I did somehow end up getting the itch to look at them myself badly enough that I caved you can rest assured I would never share that footage to anyone in any way. Again, right now I genuinely do not even want to see people talk about what's in them. So far I have only seen people spreading one username to block and report and two people saying which scenes they've accidentally seen and that is it. If I see anything I will not be mentioning what it is anywhere and I will try to look away as fast as I can. I will block anyone who spreads leaks if I see it.

I guess on a positive note, thank goodness release is not far away now. We'll do our best to hold out till then and try to be careful online. Too bad I can't really mute and block stuff like regular fans because all of that will impact my research in the future as well. But yeah, my thoughts go out to the Heartstopper team, I can only imagine how they are feeling right now.