The state of California has a solution to the problem of bitter exes: the legislature is now considering a bill to outlaw so-called “revenge porn.” Revenge porn is often posted to public websites like Reddit by angry exes in possession of former partners’ inappropriate photos. The bill moved through the Senate Public Safety Committee unanimously yesterday. The ACLU says such postings are protected by the Constitution.
The bill says that if you post naked photos of someone with intent to do emotional harm without permission, you could serve a year in prison. Here’s the relevant section of the bill:
Every person who, with the intent to cause substantial emotional distress or humiliation, by means of an electronic communication device, and without consent of the other person, electronically distributes, publishes, emails, hyperlinks, or makes available for downloading nude images of the other person along with personal identifying information of the other person, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in a county jail, by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
Of course, it would be very difficult to prove legally that someone had the intent to do emotional distress. Right now, there are no remedies for people whose exes post porn photos of them.
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