Breathe a sigh of relief, collegiettes: your sexy selfies now have legal protection.
A new law has come into effect in the UK to help prevent the spread of “revenge porn”.
The amendment to a new Bill has made it illegal to distribute explicit photos without consent. It doesn’t matter if they’re shared on social networks, by text or through physical copies. It covers everything. And those who break the law could face up to two years in prison.
Adam Pemberton, Assistant Chief Executive of charity Victim Support, voiced support for the changes. He said the charity was “pleased that [offenders] will now face prosecution”.
Up until now, victims of revenge porn have struggled to get their pictures and videos removed from the Internet. The websites involved are often based outside the UK and will ignore removal requests. And victims have often found that making the request in the first place often draws more unwanted attention.
Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said the new legislation lets victims “know [the authorities] are on their side”.
Although there were 149 allegations of revenge porn in the past two and a half years, the police investigated only six. Without legal back-up, victims – mostly women – have had to find other methods, such as copyright claims.
An intimate picture taken as a selfie legally belongs to the person who took the photo and has protection under copyright laws. But the amendment should mean that more victims of revenge porn can get the justice they deserve.
Minister for Women and Equality Nicky Morgan said it was “right that those who do circulate [intimate photos] are held to account”. She also stressed the importance of educating young people about “the hurt that can be caused” by spreading private pictures.
Protection for personal photos is a pressing current issue. The iCloud hack that saw celebrity nudes spread across the Internet was less than two months ago. And just last week, over 90,000 personal photos sent via Snapchat were leaked through a third-party site.
So it seems that protection for our personal pics is just what we need.
Do you feel safer sending sexy selfies with this new law in place? Let us know on Facebook, via Twitter (@HerCampusCCCU) or in the comments!