CA joins NJ in criminalizing ‘revenge porn’

CA joins NJ in criminalizing ‘revenge porn’

Action! Speed! roll 'em!
Action! Strip! Roll ’em!

If the concept is unfamiliar, it’s probably because you’re one of those prudes who don’t have a video camera in their bedroom or keep nude “selfies” on their hard drive. Be that as it may, revenge porn — maliciously posting naked and identifiable images of an ex online out of spite — is now illegal in California.

Station KTVU reports that the state’s governor, Jerry Brown, has signed a law that makes revenge porn a misdemeanor.

Violators can expect to spend up to six months in jail and pay a $1,000 fine. The penalty doubles for repeat offenders.

In a video report from sister station KPHO, one victim describes being avenged in this fashion as “like you’re sitting at the bottom of a really long well and you’re screaming at the top of your lungs and no one can help you.”

In passing the bill, the Golden State becomes the nation’s second, after New Jersey, to punish perpetrators of revenge porn. In New Jersey, it is a is a felony to disseminate naked pictures and sex videos to settle a score.

The California bill’s author, state senator Anthony Cannella, released a statement reading:

Until now, there was no tool for law enforcement to protect victims. Too many have had their lives upended because of an action of another that they trusted.

But not everyone is on board with the new legislation. The American Civil Liberties Union has argued that the law could be interpreted as restricting the right to free speech. That argument was sufficient to persuade the state Florida from enacting a porn revenge law of its own.

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Howard Portnoy

Howard Portnoy

Howard Portnoy has written for The Blaze, HotAir, NewsBusters, Weasel Zippers, Conservative Firing Line, RedCounty, and New York’s Daily News. He has one published novel, Hot Rain, (G. P. Putnam’s Sons), and has been a guest on Radio Vice Online with Jim Vicevich, The Alana Burke Show, Smart Life with Dr. Gina, and The George Espenlaub Show.

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