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Assemblyman Miller noted, “New York is sending a clear message that consent and bodily autonomy are just as important online as they are offline.”
By Michael V. Cusenza
The State Senate and Assembly have approved legislation that establishes the crime of unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate image—more commonly known as “revenge porn.”
The measure would make sharing or publishing an intimate image without consent a class A misdemeanor, according to one of the bill’s co-sponsors, Assemblyman Mike Miller (D-Woodhaven).
“This legislation ensures that someone who violates another’s trust in such a cruel and personal manner will be held accountable for their abusive behavior. In the face of unprecedented technological advancement, we can’t allow privacy to become a thing of the past,” Miller added. “New York is sending a clear message that consent and bodily autonomy are just as important online as they are offline.”
The new charge, Miller noted, would apply in cases where the individual depicted had a reasonable expectation of privacy and the offender knew or should have known that the other party didn’t want their photo shared. The bill also allows a person to pursue civil action against the offending individual, regardless of whether criminal charges have been filed. The person whose photos or videos were shared can also petition the court to require websites that published the media to permanently remove them.
According to Assemblyman Ed Braunstein (D-Bayside), who introduced the bill last week, “Criminalization is preferable to civil suits by victims because civil suits don’t deter those who upload or disclose new images after a civil suit has ended. Furthermore, a lengthy trial is emotionally exhausting and prohibitively expensive. Moreover, the websites that distribute nonconsensual pornography are given broad immunity for civil liability under federal law through the Communications Decency Act. Therefore, criminalizing dissemination and publication of these photos may prevent websites from benefiting from the harmful images.”
