Arizona’s New Revenge Porn Law

Bound by Connor Tarter from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

Bound by Connor Tarter from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

Arizona has rejoined the ranks of U.S. states that have criminal law against revenge porn. This bill was announced with much fanfare in January, but there was barely a whisper when Governor Ducey signed it into law earlier this month. And because this law was passed on an “emergency” basis, it became effective the moment it was signed.

The New Law
A.R.S. § 13-1425 makes it illegal to intentionally disclose the image of an identifiable person in a state of nudity or engaged in sexual activity, when the person has an expectation of privacy, with the intent to harm, harass, intimidate, threaten, or coerce the depicted person. Some important things to note, “image” includes photos, videos, and other digital recordings; and to “disclose” an image means to display, distribute, publish, advertise, or offer.

Offer. Just offering to share revenge porn could be a crime.
Let that sink in for a minute.

The Penalties
If you are convicted of revenge porn using electronic means (email, text message, or social media) under this new law, it’s a Class 4 felony, which is punishable by 1.5 years in prison and a fine up to $150,000.

If you’re convicted of threatening to post/share revenge without actually disclosing the image, that’s a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by 6 months in prison and a fine up to $2,500.

Additionally, it will be up to the judge’s discretion to declare whether your crime makes you a registered sex offender.

These are significant punishments for actions taken when you’re merely pissed off at an ex. It’s not worth the risk when the consequences are this severe.

What if I Sext Someone a Naked Picture?
One question I’m frequently asked is if someone texts or emails you a naked selfie, whether you can post that image online. If someone sends you an explicit image, they have not relinquished their expectation of privacy. If you post that image online or share it with others, it could be criminal revenge porn.

If you believe you are the victim of revenge porn or threatened revenge porn, contact law enforcement for assistance. I’m curious to see the outcomes of the first cases tried in Arizona under this new law. If you have questions about social media law or internet privacy that you want to discuss with me, you can contact me directly or connect with me on TwitterFacebookYouTube, or LinkedIn. You can also get access to more exclusive content that is available only to people on my mailing list, by subscribing here.

Arizona Revenge Porn Law Suspended

Photo by Devon Christopher Adams; Concept by Devon Adams & Sara Santiago; Model: Sara Dobie Bauer (Image used with permission)

Photo by Devon Christopher Adams; Concept by Devon Adams & Sara Santiago; Model: Sara Dobie Bauer (Image used with permission)

Last week, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton, at the request of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), called for the enforcement of Arizona’s “revenge porn” law and legal proceedings related to it to be put on hold. The law was suspended so Arizona’s legislature can examine the law’s verbiage and narrow it so that it only targets people who are distributing revenge porn.

Here’s what the law says is illegal based on the original verbiage:

It is unlawful to intentionally disclose, display, distribute, publish, advertise or offer a photograph, videotape, film or digital recording of another person in a state of nudity or engaged in specific sexual activities if the person knows or should have known that the depicted person has not consented to the disclosure. (Arizona Revised Statute § 13-1425)

As written, revenge porn is a Class 5 Felony (punishable by at least 6 months’ imprisonment and up to $150,000 fine), unless the person in the image or videos is recognizable, then you’ll be charged with a Class 4 Felony (punishable by at least 1 year in jail and up to $150,000 fine).

This law came under fire by bookstores and newspapers which could be accused of violating this law. To commit a crime, you have to engage in the actions with the mindset as stated in the criminal statute. Therefore to commit revenge porn in Arizona, you have to intentionally post or offer a video or image of a person who is naked or having sex without that person’s consent. Based on this, selling an art book that contained a photo of a naked person could be revenge porn depending on the circumstances even if the store it didn’t know that the author didn’t get consent to use the image.

Judge Bolton has basically sent the Arizona legislature back to the drawing board to revise this law. Perhaps they’ll revise it to change the mindset from “intentionally” to “knowingly” or “maliciously.”

Does this mean that revenge porn is legal in Arizona for the time being? No. It means that people won’t be charged or prosecuted under this law, but Arizona has other laws you could be violating like cyberharassment if you post revenge porn.

The Arizona legislature will be back in session in January. Hopefully it won’t take them too long to update this law so it will only target the real criminals.

If you believe you’ve been the victim of revenge porn, please call the police in your community. If you’re interested in more information about your legal dos and don’ts online, please check out my book, The Legal Side of Blogging: How Not to get Sued, Fired, Arrested, or Killed. If you want to chat more about this topic, feel free to connect with me on TwitterFacebookYouTubeLinkedIn, or you can email me.

Please visit my homepage for more information about Carter Law Firm.

Arizona’s New Revenge Porn Law

8/52 My Shadow by Scarleth Marie from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

8/52 My Shadow by Scarleth Marie from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

Governor Brewer recently signed HB 2515, which made “revenge porn” a felony in Arizona. The official name for this law will be Unlawful Distribution of Private Images and it will be added to the Arizona criminal code as Arizona Revised Statute § 13-1425.

This new law, “Prohibits a person from intentionally disclosing, displaying, distributing, publishing, advertising or offering a photograph, videotape, film or digital recording of a person in a state of nudity or engaged in specific sexual activities if the person knows or should have known that the depicted person has not consented to the disclosure.” It also amends the domestic violence law (A.R.S. § 13-3601) by stating that revenge porn can be a type of domestic violence.

If you are arrested for violating this law, you will be charged with a Class 5 Felony (punishable by at least 6 months’ imprisonment and up to $150,000 fine), unless the person in the image or videos is recognizable, then you’ll be charged with a Class 4 Felony (punishable by at least 1 year in jail and up to $150,000 fine). When I first saw these punishments, I thought they were overly harsh, but then I noted that these are the same penalties for people who are found guilty of voyeurism in Arizona.

This law goes into effect on July 24, 2014. Arizona law enforcement has until then to develop their policies regarding how these crimes will be investigated and train their staff. Arizona already has a law against cyberharassment, so I suspect the policy for the new law will be similar to the procedures they have in place for this.

These are some of my thoughts about this new law:

  • I suspect the distribution of revenge porn applies to sending images or videos from person-to-person via text or email as well as widespread postings on websites. I can easily see a group of high school kids being accused of violating this law for passing around a naked selfie of one of their classmates that the victim meant for only their significant other to see. It could also be a felony just to show the image to one person.
  • Did you notice that the law applies to “offering” an image or video? I think that means you could be guilty even if you just offer to share someone else’s naked photo without the person’s consent, even if the potential recipient declines. These situations would probably be hard to prove unless the conversation was recorded or documented via text messages or email.

I’m curious to see how this law will impact existing revenge porn. If someone posted a photo of you on a revenge porn site this month and it’s still up when the law goes into effect in July, can the victim turn the alleged perpetrator in at that time with the claim that by staying on the internet, the crime is ongoing? Or will the victim have to wait until someone posts or sends the photo/video again after the law goes into effect to file a claim?

My rule of thumb is, “Think before you post.” Once an image or a message is sent, you can never fully take it back. Even if you have a revenge porn claim and the person is justly prosecuted, that image of you is still out there and you have no control over who’s seen it and it’s hard to chase down every place it might be posted to try to get it removed.

(Note: This video was made in March 2013, before the revenge porn law was passed, and not every state has a specific law about revenge porn.)

If you think you’ve been a victim of cyberharassment or revenge porn, please contact your local law enforcement agency.

If you want to learn more about revenge porn, please check out my book The Legal Side of Blogging: How Not to get Sued, Fired, Arrested, or Killed. It has an entire chapter dedicated to invasion of privacy. You can connected with me on TwitterFacebookYouTubeLinkedIn, or you can email me. You can also subscribe to the Carter Law Firm newsletter.
Please visit my homepage for more information about Carter Law Firm.