New Hampshire Moves Closer to Criminalizing ‘Revenge Porn’
Photo by J. Stephen Cohn on Flickr/Creative Commons
New Hampshire has moved one step closer to criminalizing so-called “revenge porn.”
The State Senate passed with a voice vote Friday a bill that would protect victims of nonconsensual dissemination of private, sexual images.
“This legislation helps New Hampshire crack down on revenge porn, providing law enforcement the ability to press charges, and limiting the improper distribution of private images altogether,” Sen. Sharon Carson, of Londonderry, told the Union-Leader.
The legislation makes it a crime to share sexually explicit images with the intent to “harass, intimidate, threaten, or coerce” when the person is identifiable from the image, engaging in sex, or has his or her “intimate parts” exposed. Cell service and broadband providers would not be held liable for any images shared using their services. A violation would be considered a Class B felony.
The New Hampshire House will take up the bill next. Twenty-six other states have enacted similar revenge porn legislation, including Vermont and Maine.
