Revenge Porn
In the 21st century, the use of technology in society has molded a new way of life. The internet can now be accessed in a small handheld device, allowing people to have access to an endless world of information wherever they may be. In addition to the newfound easy access to the internet, people are now able to be in constant contact with each other via text message, or other messaging/social platforms. As such, this component has been added to personal relationships and intimate digital images may be produced and shared. When this type of produced content (either photographs or video) are shared without one’s consent, that is referred to as revenge porn.
What is "Revenge Porn?"
“Revenge Porn” is the commonly used term for non-consensual intimate image distribution (Dodge). Images that are considered to be revenge porn can be produced mainlny in two ways: produced with one’s consent, but then shared without their consent or produced without one’s consent and then shared without their consent. In between, there are a lot of layers into the specifics of how each case is created.
Although revenge porn has become more common with advances in technology (for example, the digital camera and internet), the concept has been around since photography has existed. In 1867, there was a case in which a photographer took sexually explicit images of the Three Musketeers author Alexandre Dumas posing with his mistress and threatened to publish those photographs. A legal battle ensued which ended in the photographer not being legally allowed to share the images (Dodge). Another example of revenge porn involving physical photographs is the 1984 case of Wood v. Hustler Magazine Inc. (Dodge). The magazine published nude images of a woman named LaJuan Wood that were stolen from her home when her neighbor broke in. As a result of the legal case, Wood was compensated with $150,000 (Dodge).
In the digital age, revenge porn has reached its highest level of popularity. A website entitled “Is Anyone Up?” gained 300,000 unique visitors a day, before it was shut down in 2012 (McGlynn). Additionally, there are around 3,000 revenge porn-dedicated websites that are up and running (McGlynn). In 2014, there was a leak of many nude personal images of celebrities, which in popular culture was referred to as “The Fappening” (Dodge). The prevalence of revenge porn continues to increase as society continues to become more and more digitized.
Ethics
Around 1 in 20 people have been victims of revenge porn and this has caused a techno panic (Greenberg). People are growing fearful of technology and its capability to invade their privacy with something as personal as intimate images. If these personal images are at risk to be non-consensually shared, is all other private information at risk of being leaked to the public? Although physical nude photographs can be and have been shared non-consensually in the past, the digitilization of photography has made revenge porn thrive, both with producing, accessing, and sharing images.
Until the recent push to create a federal law to penalize perpetrators of revenge porn, the victims have had little control on what happens after their images are shared based on the state. In many instances, victims do not come forward to seek any type of justice, as there is a stigma around sexuality, especially for women. A survey conducted in 2017 found that 1 in 3 victims of revenge porn did not tell anyone due to the personal shame and guilt they felt (Greenberg).
Action Against Revenge Porn
With the continued prevalence of revenge porn in the digital age, there has been major efforts to protect victims of revenge porn. As of March 2021, there is no federal law against the producing/distributing revenge porn (Lekach). There are a collection of federal laws that protect against the production/distribution of child pornography, making it illegal in all states to consume, produce, and/or distribute child pornography. Section 2256 of Title 18, United States Code, defines child pornography as “any visual depictions of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor (someone under 18 years of age)” (Justice). As such, those over the age of 18 have no protection under this and must rely on their state’s legal status on revenge porn. For example, New York has a collection of comprehensive laws/sections against revenge porn (New York Penal Law 245.15, New York Civil Rights Law Sections 52-B and 52-C), whereas Michigan has one penal code (Michigan Penal Code - Act 328 of 1931 - Section 750.145e) (Ballotpedia).
There has recently been efforts made to create a federal law to protect victims of revenge porn. Specifically, in 2017 the ENOUGH Act, or the Ending Nonconsenual Online User Graphic Harassment, was introduced to Congress (Lekach). The Act, which was sponsored by Representive Jackie Speier of California, would make it a crime in all states to “knowingly distribute (or intentionally threaten to distribute) an intimate visual depiction of an individual with knowledge of or reckless disregard for the individual’s lack of consent, reasonable expection of privacy, and potential harm” (Congress). The Act was referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland, Security, and Investigations in January of 2018, but has yet to be approved (Congress). As such, the current legal status on cases of revenge porn is entirely reliant on each state.
Conclusion
As technology continues to advance, revenge porn will continue to have the means to prosper. It will continue to advance and become more complex as technology does and unfortunately legislation cannot keep up with its pace. More recently, “Deep Fakes” have caused a new type of concern regarding revenge porn. Deep fakes create “Fake Porn,” which edits people’s faces into sexually explicit content (Mania).
Although legislation has had a somewhat slow response in combating revenge porn, websites have put into place different mechanisms in order to protect their users. In April of 2017, Facebook announced its use of a new AI tool that uses facial recognition technology to monitor the pornographic images that may circulate on the site (Mania). Additionally, in October of 2017, Pornhub announced its use of machine learning and facial recognition to detect the faces of the individuals featured in the videos uploaded onto their site (Mania). Even though these efforts may not lead to perpetrators being penalized for their crimes by the law, it does help to limit the exposure of the non-consenual images of victims.
