Why Revenge Porn Should Be a Strict Criminal Offence: A Legal Analysis

This essay delves into the critical issue of revenge porn, arguing for its classification as a serious criminal offense. It highlights the devastating impact on victims, including psychological distress, public humiliation, and even suicide, emphasizing the ease with which explicit images are shared and distributed online. The essay explores the ineffectiveness of current laws and proposes a stricter legal framework, specifically for New South Wales, to increase penalties and address loopholes. Counter-arguments are addressed, such as concerns about penalizing young offenders, but the essay ultimately emphasizes the need for stringent measures to protect victims and deter perpetrators. The paper references the NSW Crimes Amendment (Intimate Images) Act 2017 and argues for further refinement to include stricter penalties and address issues related to young offenders. The essay concludes by reiterating the urgent need for strict criminalization of revenge porn to mitigate its harmful effects and prevent further tragedies. The essay discusses the negative impact of revenge porn on the victim's life, which leads to psychological and physical issues. The essay also discusses various cases where the victim has committed suicide due to the mental pressure faced after their explicit images were leaked. The essay also provides a legal framework to punish the people who record or distribute revenge porn.

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Cyberspace Law
Revenge Porn: Why should it be a strict criminal offence?

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The role and impact of the internet have grown substantially in people’s lives, especially in
the case of young people. Most teenagers use the internet to access social media sites and
other information which assist them during studies. The ease of internet access has made it
a significant part of people’s lives, and they use it for work, communication, studies,
directions, planning trips, and many others. However, along with benefits, there are many
negative sides to the use of the internet as well. Many people use the internet for illegal or
immoral purposes which adversely affect other people. The unauthorised sharing or
distribution of explicit images or videos on the internet is commonly called ‘revenge porn’
which is a serious issue that is growing, especially in the case of young people (Citron and
Franks, 2014). It is a growing problem in many parts of the world which is affecting many
people. The explicit photos or videos which are shared on the internet without the
permission of the party can end up anywhere, and they can be copied and distributed by
others (Frayne, 2017). In many cases, owners of websites who display these images or
videos extort money from the victims in order to remove their images. In this essay, various
arguments will be given regarding why revenge porn should be determined as a serious
criminal offence, and appropriate penalties should be imposed on people who engage in
such activities. The role of law in elimination and punishment of revenge porn crimes will be
discussed in the essay along with counter-arguments. Lastly, a proposal for a legal
framework for the New South Wales will be given to punish people who record or distribute
revenge porn.
Revenge porn has a substantially negative impact on the life of the victim which could lead
to psychological and physical issues and create a negative impact of the person in the
society which makes it hard for them to live their life peacefully. The non-consensual sharing
of the intimate images or videos of another person without their consent is considered as
revenge porn (NSW Department of Justice, 2016). Generally, people who broke up in a
relationship share these explicit images in order to punish another party. Revenge porn is a
serious offence because the objective of the person is to harm someone’s reputation by
exposing them to the public. Due to the popularity of the internet, the explicit images are
shared easily by people, and they can be spread worldwide. These images can be
downloaded, distributed and copied by anyone and it had a negative impact on the victim.
Once the photos or videos are leaked on the internet, then it became impossible for the

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victim to do anything about it because it is very difficult to remove these images. Many
times certain websites show these images or videos, and they ask for money from the
victims to remove them. The victim suffered psychological issues after leaking of their
images and in many cases, the victims commit or try to commit suicides. For example, a
woman jumped to her death after her boyfriend threatened to ‘destroy’ her by sending her
family and others revenge porn video of her in which she was performing a sex act and
taking cocaine (Hawken, 2018). In another case, Tiziana Cantone become the victim of a
revenge porn scandal which was shared by her boyfriend on social media sites, and the
video becomes a meme, and people started mocking her for the video due to which she
committed suicide (Tutty, 2018). There are many cases of revenge porn in which the victims
commit suicide due to the mental pressure which they face after they are exposed in front
of the world. Therefore, it is important that the people who share or distribute revenge
porn should be punished accordingly and appropriate laws should be implemented to
ensure that people did not share the explicit images of another person for revenge.
There are many young people involved in the cases of revenge porn; therefore, appropriate
measures should be taken by the government to stop people from sharing revenge porn.
Most young people live their life on the interest on which they share every part of their day.
They become obsessed with their online image that it started to affect their mental health
negatively. In such cases, it has become easier for young people to threaten another person
based on their revenge porn. People take explicit photos or videos of their partners, and
they blackmail them to share these videos on the internet if they did not fulfil their
demands (Levendowski, 2013). It creates a substantial mental pressure on the victims since
they are in a young age in which they did not know how to handle this situation. They find it
difficult to share this information with their parents that make the matters worst. The laws
implemented by the government also did not protect them. On the other hand, many times
the criminals who took the explicit images are young who are not punished by the law which
makes it easier for them to share the images or videos of another person. Once the explicit
images or videos are leaked on the internet, then it becomes impossible for the victim to
remove them and it adversely affects their ‘online image’ based on which suicide is the only
option left for them (Citron and Franks, 2014). The access of young people to devices such
as smartphone and computers makes it easier for them to collect explicit images or videos

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of another person. ‘Sexting’ is also popular among young people in which the share explicit
images of each other and it became easier for the other party to blackmail the victim. The
current laws implemented by the government did not take all these issues into
consideration. The punishments which are imposed by the government are not enough to
stop people from sharing revenge porn due to which it is difficult to reduce the number of
suicide cases based on revenge porn.
The government should adopt or modify current laws in order to make strict policies to
punish the parties who share, distribute or copy revenge porn to reduce its cases. The
number of revenge porn is increased due to the popularity of social media sites which have
a significant impact on the young people. As the number of cases involved revenge porn
increases, most countries are adopting policies to punish those parties who share revenge
porn. However, in most countries, the issue with revenge porn laws is that they are not
harsh enough due to which the number of cases of revenge porn is not reducing (Salter and
Crofts, 2015). In most cases, the issue is that these laws did not consider the seriousness of
the crime based on which they did not punish the criminal enough to teach a lesson to other
parties. A good example is the case of Folami Prehaye who becomes the victim of revenge
porn after her former boyfriend leaked explicit images of her online with her friends, family,
and strangers. After this incident, the former boyfriend was given a six months suspended
sentence for harassing the victim and distributing the indecent images (Nimmo, 2015). Miss
Prehaye speaks regarding this issue by providing that the laws are not harsh enough to
punish the victim for their crimes. In many cases, the victims are left with no choice but to
commit suicide in order to remove the metal pressure of exposing in from the whole world.
The current legal framework did not take these facts into consideration due to which the
number of cases involving revenge porn is not reducing. The NSW Crimes Amendment
(Intimate Images) Act 2017 has been introduced by the government of NSW to tackle the
issue of revenge porn. In this law, the punishment for recording or sharing intimate images
or videos without consent has increased up to three years in jail and fines up to $11,000
(Frayne, 2017). The law has removed the loophole under which the perpetrators were able
to escape prosecution if their motivation in sharing the revenge porn was not sexual
gratification. Furthermore, legal action can be taken against a person under the age of
sixteen years for sharing revenge porn. Section 578C of the Crimes Act 1900 also provides

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protection to the victim of revenge porn (Austlii, 2018). However, these laws are not enough
to ensure that the victims are protected, and the penalties should be stricter. These laws are
not enough to protect the victims of revenge porn who did not have any option rather than
commit suicide to avoid public humiliation. Moreover, policies should be introduced by the
government to strictly punish young people as well who are able to escape prosecution due
to their age. Since the numbers of cases involving young people in revenge porn are
increasing, a separate legal framework should be introduced to punish them separately
(Franklin, 2014). The young perpetrators should be punished based on the seriousness of
their crimes and the impact it had on the victim. It will teach a lesson to other people as well
which will reduce the number of cases of revenge porn.
On the other hand, many people argue that the laws of revenge porn should not be strictly
implemented on young people because they are not old enough to understand the impact
of their actions. In counter-arguments against recognising revenge porn as a serious criminal
offer, many people argue that rather than punishing the young criminals, awareness
regarding the issue should be increased between them (Calvert, 2013). Young people should
be taught in schools and their homes that taking explicit images or videos is a crime for
which they can be punished. In case of criminals who are sixteen or, younger did not
understand the impact of their actions of their victims. Therefore, it is not justified to
impose strict penalties on them which could ruin their future. However, these arguments
are not justifiable because it will not reduce the number of cases of revenge porn. Young
people already know that it is wrong to share intimate images or videos of another person
with their friends, family, and strangers; however, they share them to get revenge on the
victim (NSW Department of Justice, 2016). Spreading awareness will not resolve the issue;
instead, strict punishment will ensure that young people are not ruining other lives by
sharing their explicit photos or videos.
In conclusion, the issue of revenge porn is growing across the globe and countries are taking
legal actions to reduce these cases. The objective of these laws is to protect the victims and
reduce the numbers of cases of revenge porn. In the cases of revenge porn, the victims had
to suffer mental pressure and humiliation in public due to which they did not have any other
option left by to commit suicide. Many times websites post these explicit images or videos
and demand money from the victim to remove them. Thus, there are various negative

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impacts of sharing of revenge porn due to which it should be strict criminal offence. The
current laws implemented by the government have recognised these issues, and the new
laws have increased the penalties for these crimes. However, these policies are not strict
enough to ensure that the number of cases of revenge porn is reduced. Many people argue
that these laws should not be strict for young people because they did not understand the
impact of their actions. However, this will not benefit the victims, and the number of
revenge porn cases will not decrease by this action. The young people should be punished
strictly to ensure that they did not share or record intimate images or videos of others
without their permission because it could have serious impacts and their victims could lose
their lives.

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References
Austlii. (2018) CRIMES ACT 1900 - SECT 578C Publishing indecent articles. [Online] Available
at: http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/ca190082/
s578c.html [Accessed 24/10/2018].
Calvert, C. (2013) Revenge porn and freedom of expression: Legislative pushback to an
online weapon of emotional and reputational destruction. Fordham Intell. Prop. Media &
Ent. LJ, 24, p.673.
Citron, D.K. and Franks, M.A. (2014) Criminalizing revenge porn. Wake Forest L. Rev., 49,
p.345.
Franklin, Z. (2014) Justice for revenge porn victims: Legal theories to overcome claims of civil
immunity by operators of revenge porn websites. California Law Review, 102 (5), pp.1303-
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Frayne, A. (2017) Three years’ jail for revenge porn under new laws in NSW. [Online]
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Hawken, A. (2018) Boyfriend of woman, 24, who jumped to her death a week after he
threatened to 'destroy' her by sending her family a revenge porn video of her taking cocaine
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threatened-send-revenge-porn-video.html [Accessed 24/10/2018].
Levendowski, A. (2013) Using copyright to combat revenge porn. NYU J. Intell. Prop. & Ent.
L., 3, p.422.
Nimmo, J. (2015) Revenge porn: Opinion divided on the new law. [Online] Available at:
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NSW Department of Justice. (2016) The sharing of intimate images without consent -
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https://www.justice.nsw.gov.au/justicepolicy/Documents/discussion-paper-sharing-
intimate-images-14092016.pdf [Accessed 24/10/2018].
Salter, M. and Crofts, T. (2015) Responding to revenge porn: Challenges to online legal
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Tutty, J. (2018) Revenge Porn Victim Commits Suicide After Sex Tape Is Turned Into A Meme.
[Online] Available at: http://www.viralthread.com/italian-revenge-porn-victim-commits-
suicide-following-vicious-trolling/ [Accessed 24/10/2018].