WASHINGTON, D.C.—More than two years after her pledge to introduce legislation to criminalize revenge porn, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) is finally making good on her promise.
Speier on Thursday brought to the House of Representatives floor a four-page bill that, if passed and signed into law, would make it a crime to distribute a “visual depiction of a person who is identifiable from the image itself or information displayed in connection with the image and who is engaging in sexually explicit conduct, or of the naked genitals or post-pubescent female nipple of a person, with reckless disregard for the person’s lack of consent to the distribution.”
Basically, all of that is a fancy way of saying that anyone posting NSFW images of another person without their consent—regardless of whether it’s done with malicious intent or not—can be charged with a federal crime and, if convicted, serve up to five years in prison.
Speer said the delay between her announcement and actual introduction of the bill allowed for a version that had widespread support—including from Twitter, Facebook and scholars—and addressed problems that arose in some of the 34 states with some type of revenge porn law.
“It’s a complex issue and we wanted to get it right,” Speier told reporters. “There were plenty of laws passed in states around the country that were problematic in nature. We wanted it to pass constitutional muster.”
The bill allows for distribution of some specific types of naked photos without the subject’s consent, such as in cases of public interest, or if the images are taken voluntarily in public or a commercial setting.
“The bill recognizes that the distribution of nonconsensual pornography is a privacy violation, as nonconsensual pornography is not always about revenge or harassment,” a press release about the bill reads.
While many states have their own versions of revenge porn laws, advocates and victims have asked for a federal law that can send a stronger message and help in the prosecution of cases involving persons in different states.
The bill already has some bipartisan support: it was co-sponsored by Reps. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.); Ryan Costello (R-Pa.); Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.); and Thomas Rooney (R-Fla.).
