Emma Watson's nude pictures threat a hoax

The latest threat to leak nude pictures of actress Emma Watson has turned out to be a hoax, aiming to shut down the website 4chan.

The hoax, which was an attempt to start a viral marketing campaign, started after an anonymous 4chan user posted a countdown timer with a picture of the Harry Potter actress wiping away a tear hinting that she could become the next star to have her iCloud hacked and personal photos dispersed, CNN reported.

On Wednesday, the site mentioned in the anonymous user's posting, EmmaYouAreNext.com, was redirecting to the company Rantic Marketing with the message "ShutDown4chan", which said that they wanted public support to shut down the site and prevent more private pictures from being leaked, as "none of these women deserve this and together people can make a change".

The site also had a letter addressed to US President Barack Obama saying that they "have been hired by celebrity publicists to bring this disgusting issue to attention. The recent 4chan celebrity nude leaks in the past two months have been an invasion of privacy and is also clear indication that the internet needs to be censored. Every Facebook like, share & Twitter mention will count as a social signature -- and will be one step closer to shutting down www.4chan.org."

The site had earlier featured nude pictures of various celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence, Kim Kardashian and Gabrielle Union. Watson had faced backlash after her impassioned UN speech for gender equality, including a threat to leak alleged nude photos of her.