Imagine waking up to messages from loved ones asking you about explicit images or videos posted of yourself to a social media page without your permission by an ex-lover.
State Rep. Tina Davis (Bucks) announced on Monday she is presenting legislation to the house to stop and criminalize these kind of trauma inducing events from happening on social media, called intimate partner harassment.
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“The legislation – House Bill 1901 — provides legal consequences when relationships turn abusive in the social media,” Davis said. “Online harassment by former intimate partners is a growing problem, and Pennsylvania should have the tools to prosecute it.”
Davis said the bill would make “revenge by invasion of privacy” a third-degree felony, carrying a penalty of up to seven years in prison when it involves a minor. When involving non-consenting adults, the legislation calls for escalating fines, probation and prison terms in aggravated cases.”
The measure zero’s in on those exposing a photograph, film or videotape of intimate actions to a third party with the intent to harass, annoy or alarm the person illustrated It would not be a crime if the adult depicted consents to the release of the material.
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“Victims have been stalked – online and in person — after personal photos and confidential information have been posted online without their permission,” Davis said. “Sometimes, the information is hacked from personal computers, only to show up on lurid websites, whose owners demand hundreds of dollars to remove the materials.”
Davis said that the online revenge postings ruin lives, destroy personal finances and lead to job losses.
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“The attacks shatter lives, careers and futures, leaving a flood of human despair in their wake,” said Davis, who outlined the bill as part of a seven-bill Agenda for Women’s Health package unveiled last week by the legislature’s bipartisan Women’s Health Caucus, of which she is a member.
House Bill 1901 mirrors a measure introduced by state Sen. Judy Schwank, D-Berks, whose S.B. 1167 has the support of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, a press release said.
The Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union also has helped to develop the legislation and is neutral on the bills.
