News

Your Ex's Favorite Type Of Porn Could Soon Be Illegal

by Alexandra Svokos
REUTERS

Congress is taking steps to protect victims of revenge porn. This is massively important legislation that could ensure the freedom of many people across the country.

Revenge porn is when someone shares sexual images of a person without his or her consent. It is often done by vindictive exes, who share photos meant just for themselves with the internet.

Revenge porn is a serious issue that has interrupted and disturbed many lives.

But law enforcement is woefully behind on protecting people against crimes committed on the internet. We've gone very far in figuring out what we can do with the internet, which unfortunately includes figuring out more and more ways to hurt people. But the law has not caught up with these advances.

Some states have enacted laws against revenge porn, but as of now, there is no national standard. Congress might change that.

Representative Jackie Speier, a Democrat from California, is introducing a law to criminalize spreading revenge porn, BuzzFeed reports.

According to BuzzFeed,

The law would make it unlawful to distribute sexually explicit images of a person without their consent or with a reckless disregard for whether a person did or did not consent. Websites that knowingly solicit such images, or advertise that they have them, can be held criminally liable as well.

Thirty-four states have their own anti-revenge porn laws, but there is no national standard to criminalize it.

Many anti-revenge porn advocates have pushed for a federal law to be enacted.

Last month, Chrissy Chambers asked Hillary Clinton what she would do about revenge porn, specifically recounting that there are currently no national laws against it. Clinton responded that, as president, she would do whatever she could to protect the victims.

Speier's law is being introduced on Thursday. It is co-sponsored by four people, including two Republicans and two Democrats. So hopefully, it will have bipartisan support to begin helping victims across the country.

Citations: BuzzFeed