Revenge porn. It sounds strange, but has become an online tool of harassment. Typically, an angry ex-lover will take naked photos or videos of their prior partner, and post them on the internet. There are even entire websites dedicated to revenge porn. Of course, once a video goes up, it is very difficult to actually take it down, and practically impossible to retrieve all the copies.
The entire purpose of revenge porn is to harass and humiliate the victim, and to cause emotional distress. However, posting the videos is not necessarily against the law and may have some First Amendment issues to deal with.
California is now the first state to attempt to weigh in on the problem. SB 255 took effect immediately on October 1 to criminalize some revenge porn. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Anthony Cannella, explained, “Until now, there was no tool for law enforcement to protect victims. Too many have had their lives upended because of an action of another that they trusted.”
The bill prohibits:
Any person who photographs or records by any means the image of the intimate body part or parts of another identifiable person, under circumstances where the parties agree or understand that the image shall remain private, and the person subsequently distributes the image taken, with the intent to cause serious emotional distress, and the depicted person suffers serious emotional distress.
A copy of the bill can be found at Cyber Report, as well as a link to some posts of actual victims telling their stories. Now that the first step has been taken, it is important for other states to follow suit.