New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill making “revenge porn” a crime in his state. Publishing nonconsensual intimate photos is now punishable by up to one year in jail. Forty-six state have laws governing revenge porn. The New York law states that sharing of images must be done “with the intent to cause harm to the emotional, financial, or physical welfare of another person and when the image was taken with a reasonable expectation that the image would remain private.” (The Hill, July 23, 2019, by Rebecca Klar)
Emma Grey Ellis, Wired, July 24, 2019, writes that the law was praise-worthy for offering women a legal recourse but misses most offenders who share nonconsensual porn as “impersonal entertainment” and have no intent to injure the subject of the porn. Tech companies and the American Civil Liberties Union pressed for the inclusion of the “intent to harm” clause in the New York law arguing that without it the law would violate the First Amendment.