A year ago, California enacted a law making it illegal to share sexual images you took of another individual. The law was designed to stop people from taking "revenge" on an ex by posting nude or sexual images online.

 

This week, Gov. Jerry Brown signed an expansion of the act that prohibits the unauthorized sharing of someone's nude selfies. Posting another person's selfie online or emailing the images without permission now constitutes a misdemeanor.

 

“Once SB a255 was signed into law, I became aware there were many victims of revenge porn who took photos of themselves, sent them to a person they trusted, and that person, unbeknownst to the victim, distributed the images,” Sen. Anthony Cannella said. “With the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative estimating more than half of revenge porn cases involve selfies, I wanted to expand the existing law [... and make] it a crime for anyone to distribute revenge porn, regardless of who took the photo.”

 

The updated law also removes the threshold of “serious emotional distress." This means that even if your intent is not to cause harm, you are still guilty of violating the law. 

 

“I am deeply grateful to Sen. Cannella for delivering on his promise and creating Revenge Porn 2.0 legislation,” said Dr. Charlotte Laws, a victims’ rights advocate. “Revenge porn preys on trusting individuals in their most vulnerable state and can leave a lifetime of emotional scars.”

 

If you have an ex's nudie pics, by all means keep them for a late night wank. But let him decide who else gets to see his naughty bits!

 

Jerry Brown signs 'Revenge Porn 2.0 Act' [The Sacramento Bee]

 

California Expands Ban On Revenge Porn [CBS]