SACRAMENTO, Calif. – One year after enacting the California law banning so-called “revenge porn,” Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown signed an expansion of the act extending the prohibition to the unauthorized dissemination of nude “selfies.”
Selfies are candid images a person shoots of himself or herself, often using a camera phone. Under Senate Bill 1255, authored by Sen. Anthony Cannella [R-Ceres] and informally known as the Revenge Porn 2.0 Act, posting online or emailing selfies without permission in an attempt to harass or embarrass the subject constitutes a misdemeanor.
“Once SB 1255 was signed into law, I became aware there were many victims of revenge porn who took photos of themselves, sent them to a person they trusted, and that person, unbeknownst to the victim, distributed the images,” Cannella noted in a prepared statement. “With the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative estimating more than half of revenge porn cases involve selfies, I wanted to expand the existing law. SB 1255 protects a greater number of Californians and makes it a crime for anyone to distribute revenge porn, regardless of who took the photo.”
SB 1255 also simplifies the existing law, removing the threshold of “serious emotional distress” in favor of applying the law to anyone who distributes revenge porn without the depicted person’s consent. In other words, subjects who disseminate compromising selfies of others need not intend to cause harm. The only criterion for a violation is that the images are distributed or posted without permission from the person depicted.
“I am deeply grateful to Sen. Cannella for delivering on his promise and creating Revenge Porn 2.0 legislation,” said Dr. Charlotte Laws, a nationally recognized victims’ rights advocate whose daughter was a victim of revenge porn. “Revenge porn preys on trusting individuals in their most vulnerable state and can leave a lifetime of emotional scars. Sen. Cannella continues to prove himself a leader in ending this despicable act.”
During the same signing session, Brown also autographed related legislation, Assembly Bill 2643. Put forward by Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski [D-Fremont], AB 2643 enables victims of revenge porn to file civil lawsuits against the person or persons who disseminate compromising selfies without the subject’s knowledge, regardless of intent.
“This type of cyber-retaliation is an increasingly common tactic used to humiliate and harass victims, especially women,” Wieckowski noted in a prepared statement.
Brown signed both pieces of legislation without comment.
In Arizona, similar legislation is under legal challenge by a group including bookstores, media organizations and the America Civil Liberties Union. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs allege Arizona’s laws fail to specify a “malicious intent” component. Among other things, the plaintiffs claim such revenge porn bans could subject bookstores, libraries, newspapers and others to criminal charges for making available nude or explicit images with legitimate literary, artistic, political or scientific value, in violation of First Amendment free speech guarantees and existing case law.
