A bill criminalizing “revenge porn” has been passed by the New York Senate. “Revenge porn” is a known tactic of terrible people who distribute explicit images as a form of cyber-bullying, often including the victim’s personal information.
The bill criminalizes the dissemination of sexually intimate images or images of intimate parts of another person without that person’s explicit consent in order to harm, harass, scare or alarm that individual. The first offense would be a class A misdemeanor, punishable up to one year in jail, and a repeat offense within 10 years would be a class E felony, punishable up to four years in prison.
Currently, New York law protects individuals from having their explicit images disseminated online if they were unaware of the photos taken at the time. The “revenge porn” criminalization bill now moves to the Assembly.
Similar bills criminalizing “revenge porn” have already passed in New Jersey and California.
If you, like so many others, have experienced internet harassment from a former partner intended to specifically to inflict humiliation and psychological distress, you are being abused, even if it is being done by cowardly assholes online. Please call New York’s domestic abuse hotline at 1-800-942-6906 to be directed to proper support.
