State Assembly (Wiki commons)
Feb. 28, 2019 By Christian Murray
People who post intimate photos or explicit videos of a former flame online will soon face up to a year in jail.
The New York State Assembly and Senate passed legislation today that would make it a Class A misdemeanor to disseminate intimate photos or video of a person online without permission.
New York will join 41 other states to criminalize what’s commonly known as “revenge porn.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he plans to sign the bill, describing revenge porn as “disgusting and insidious.”
The bill passed both chambers unanimously.
“The distribution of explicit images without one’s consent is offensive and ought to be illegal,” said State Sen. Mike Gianaris in a statement. “I am pleased that the New York Senate is standing up for victims of this repulsive act.”
The bill has been sponsored in the Assembly by Edward Braunstein (D-Bayside) since 2014. The bill passed in the assembly each year, but failed to get through the senate.
The Republican-controlled senate didn’t pass it since lawmakers were concerned that online companies could be held legally responsible. The bill, according to reports, has been modified to placate such concerns.
“This new law sends a message to anybody who’s thinking about distributing revenge porn or disseminating revenge porn that if they are caught there is a possibility that they may spend a year in prison,” Braunstein said in a statement.
“This will have a deterring effect on people engaging in this kind of activity and it will protect victims throughout the state from suffering the devastating effects,” Braunstein said.
The legislation would also provide victims with the ability to file lawsuits against the person distributing the images online.
There are laws on the books that punish similar crimes. For instance, it is illegal to secretly record sexual encounters. However, there has been no protection from exes who took old recordings and distributed them.
“No one – absolutely no one – should be subjected to having their most intimate moments blasted across the internet without their consent,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said. “Today’s legislation will ensure that people who illegally publish the intimate images of others are held accountable for their reprehensible actions.””
Thank you again @edbraunstein & all our members who made this a reality. The @NYSA_Majority passed this before, but it wasn’t until we had our partners in the @NYSenDems working with us that we could write it into NYS law.
— Carl E. Heastie (@CarlHeastie) February 28, 2019
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