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A man is silhouetted against a video screen with a Facebook logo as he poses with a Samsung S4 smartphone in this file photo illustration taken in the central Bosnian town of Zenica August 14, 2013. One in two Americans worry that Internet companies are encroaching too much upon their lives, uneasy about Facebook's and Google's ability to gather their personal data, as the companies delve deeper into novel areas such as smart home appliances and drones. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Filers

A Facebook page where Otago University students share explicit images of young women was shut down after attracting the attention of critics who described the page as an example of New Zealand's underlying "rape culture."

According to reports, the Facebook page, Rack Appreciation Society, was created by university student Sean McDonald. The page has since drawn more than 2,000 members before it was shut down recently. Otago University proctor Simon Thompson investigated the group after receiving a complaint about an online page where photos of women were being shared without their permission. Group creator McDonald has issued an apology after defending the page in his Facebook post.

McDonald said the page was originally created for members to think of it as a "cigar and whiskey kind of page to ponder on the finer things in life." He added that the intention of the page was "purely out of respect." He believes the Facebook page went out of control when members began posting photos of their ex-girlfriends.

In an Otago Daily Times report, Anna-Kristy Munro, educator and funding coordinator of Rape Crisis Dunedin, said the page was "exploitative, demeaning and degrading to women." She said the Facebook page only highlights the rape culture especially in the Otago University campus. Munro has since urged the Dunedin police to take the matter seriously and investigate it.

Reports said the Rack Appreciation Society page has angered many women in the campus who made their own Facebook page, Rack Appreciation Awareness. Ryan Edgar, vice-president of the Otago University Students Association, believes the second page targeted some people unfairly. He was one of the people who were added to the original Facebook page without their consent.

Edgar blamed Facebook for the way membership to a group page is handled. The issue has led to some people having damaged reputations and strained relationships. When asked about the existence of "rape culture" in the university, he replied that not all males involved are "sexual predators." He knows female objectification is a serious matter and should not be ignored.

Inspector Mel Aitken, Acting Area Commander of Dunedin police, said a woman had complained about the Facebook page. Police have not investigated the page since sharing an explicit photo of a former girlfriend without her consent may not be "unlawful," but Aitken said each case needs to be evaluated.