Growing up in such a technologically advanced world, particularly in a country where said technology is available to almost anyone, is a pretty awesome thing sometimes. As part of this tech-savvy culture, we, as a collective whole, are able to do so many things that were unheard of merely thirty years ago; we can connect with people on the other side of the globe in mere seconds, can digitally travel to any place on earth with interactive maps, can access information on nearly any subject without it being censored or hard to find. Technology is pretty rad in those respects. But, being human, we can sometimes spoil awesome things and make them pretty awful. One of the most disgusting ways we do that is with what is known as “revenge porn.”
Revenge porn refers to private photos, usually sent in confidence to a sexual partner or significant other, that are leaked to the internet, usually after a break up or other parting of ways, as a way to shame and harm the person in the photos. Obviously, this is a pretty despicable thing to do, and the people who abuse the confidence of a former lover in such a way are terrible human beings. One would think that people who do this sort of thing would get in trouble for it, since that seems, well, the logical thing to do. Unfortunately, there are few to no laws protecting people who find themselves the victims of revenge porn. However, the good news is that that might be changing.
California is working on passing a law that would make the posting of “revenge porn” a criminal act, complete with consequences that include up to six months in prison and up to $1,000 in fines. Specifically, the law would make it a “criminal offense” to take “nude or revealing pictures that may have once been taken with a subject’s consent” and put them on the internet. The law has found support from organizations aiming to end revenge porn, such as endrevengeporn.org, and many people, such as law scholar Danielle Citron, are happy about the legislation because, “It signals taking the issue seriously.”
Hopefully, laws like this one might set a precedent, and ensure an end to such terrible abuses of another living, breathing human being’s sense of trust.
Image courtesy of endrevengeporn.org.