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On Thursday, Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) introduced the Intimate Privacy Protection Act, a bill that seeks to outlaw the distribution of nonconsensual sexual photos—more commonly referred to as "revenge porn"—and make the act a federal crime.
Victims of revenge porn, many of whom are women, suffer an incredible violation of privacy at the hands of those who spread the images, but are often left without any legal path to prosecute the distributors. Though 34 states have laws in place to prosecute individuals who dispense these types of images, the Information Technology and Invocation Foundation deemed these measures inadequate in 2015 and called for congressional action to combat the problem.
“Technology today makes it possible to destroy a person’s life with the click of a button or a tap on a cell phone. That is all anyone needs to broadcast another person’s private images without their consent. The damage caused by these attacks can crush careers, tear apart families, and, in the worst cases, has led to suicide,” Speier said in a statement. “What makes these acts even more despicable is that many predators have gleefully acknowledged that the vast majority of their victims have no way to fight back. Celebrities and other high profile victims might be able take on these predators in civil courts, but the average person can’t afford that option. Even more disturbing is the number of victims who have mustered the courage and strength to pursue criminal charges, only to learn there is no law that protects them. My bill will fix that appalling legal failure.”
Speier's legislation prohibits the sharing of nude or sexual images of a person without their explicit consent, or with "a reckless disregard" for whether or not an individual gave their consent. The bill gives greater power to the FBI and Justice Department to carry out investigations (these cases tend to spread across multiple jurisdictions since photos are shared across the internet) and provide additional support in prosecuting people involved in the unlawful distribution of these images. Violators will face fines, a five-year prison sentence, or both, and websites that actively solicit these types of images will also be held liable for their actions.
The sharing of nonconsensual photos is not just an issue among scorned ex-lovers: In 2014, an iClould hacker leaked hundreds of personal photos stolen from celebrities, including Selena Gomez, Kate Upton, and Jennifer Lawrence.
“It is not a scandal. It is a sex crime," Lawrence told Vanity Fair in 2014. "It is a sexual violation. It's disgusting. The law needs to be changed, and we need to change.”
Though introduced on Thursday, the bill has been in the works for several years and encountered numerous delays rooted in concerns that such legislation could violate rights to free speech. A representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union told BuzzFeed that the organization is concerned the bill could be too broad and could "wrongfully criminalize activity that is protected by the First Amendment." However, other legal experts have refuted this argument, saying that the legislation has been sufficiently vetted and the type of criminal activity it seeks to outlaw has been clearly defined.
“The Intimate Privacy Protection Act needs to be passed by Congress to deal with a serious problem that has arisen with the development of the internet and social media: posting, without consent, of nude photographs and videos of sexual activity," said Erwin Chermerinksy, the leading constitutional law scholar and Dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Law. "Revenge porn has proliferated. There is no First Amendment problem with this bill. The First Amendment does not protect a right to invade a person’s privacy by publicizing, without consent, nude photographs or videos of sexual activity.”
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Source: http://www.glamour.com/story/could-revenge-porn-finally-become-a-federal-crime
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