California State Assembly District 36 recently issued the following announcement.
Sharing “revenge porn” could lead to more prison time and a spot on California’s sex offender registry under a proposed law carried by former California Highway Patrol officer.
California in 2013 became the first state to outlaw revenge porn when it made it a misdemeanor to share “intimate images” of a person without their consent. The current penalty for a first offense is six months in jail.
Assemblyman Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, thinks the sentence needs to be tougher.
“This is a sex crime and we need to start treating it like one,” said Lackey, a retired CHP sergeant.
Lackey has introduced a bill, Assembly Bill 2065, that would make it a felony to share revenge porn, punishable by more than a year in prison. Those found guilty of violating the law would be required to register as a sex offender.
Threatening to share a person’s nude photos also would become a crime, a misdemeanor, under the bill.
Lackey said that AB 2065 would give California one of the toughest laws against revenge porn in the country.
“We’re trying to take the position of victims. Because victims suffer stalking, loss of professional opportunities, and of course the psychological damage is impossible to measure,” he said.
Lackey said it’s time to tip “the scales of justice” back toward the victims.
By increasing the severity of the offense, Lackey said law enforcement would be more likely to take on victims’ cases.
“They prioritize their time,” he said.
The bill also would crack down on the sharing of pornographic images where the subject has been altered to make them appear as somebody else, including AI-generated “deepfakes.”
That portion of the bill would not apply to fake images of public figures that are “clearly parody, political commentary or other form(s) of speech protected under the First Amendment,” according to the bill language.
“I think the right to privacy over First Amendment is always a delicate issue,” Lackey said. “I think this is a very clear situation where right to privacy certainly wins in this consideration.”
Lackey’s bill is one of several measures introduced by Republicans aimed at reducing misbehavior in the digital sphere.
Sen. Ling Ling Chang, R-Diamond Bar, has introduced a bill that makes it a crime to send unsolicited nude photos.
Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham, R-Templeton, has introduced a bill that would require online dating services to notify users if they have communicated with another user who has been banned for using a false identity or who were a fraud risk.
Original source can be found here.
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