Nonconsensual Dissemination Of Intimate Content
Everyone with enough presence of mind not to publicly share photos of their breakfast and videos of their morning routine online has a reasonable fear of the malicious gossip of the Internet. The trolls online are exponentially more vicious than any troll that ever lurked under a bridge in your childhood nightmares. Of course, resilience in the face of malicious gossip is part of the human experience. The only interview question that all celebrities will answer the same way is whether they Google their own names; the answer is always no. Gossip is not the worst thing that online adversaries can do, though. They can simply publicly share things about you that others were not meant to see, such as your contact information, access to your financial accounts, or, if they have access to it, sexually suggestive images of you. Deepfake technology has only expanded the possibility of sexually themed content that can be produced and shared without the consent of the people it claims to depict. Pennsylvania law prohibits “revenge porn” and other forms of intimate content. If you are being accused of sharing intimate images of someone without the person’s consent, contact a Pittsburgh sex crime lawyer.
Unlawful Dissemination of Intimate Content Is More Than Just Revenge Porn
About 10 years ago, “revenge porn” was a term on the minds of lexicographers everywhere. It referred to intimate images and videos created in the context of a romantic relationship. When the relationship ended, one former partner would share the images online to harass and defame the other former partner. Today’s technology has advanced to the point that people with modest computer skills can make “deepfake” videos that look and sound like they depict real people and events. In other words, it is possible to make a sexually explicit video, with the deepfaked likenesses of real people, showing sex acts that never took place, although an unsuspecting audience would be easily convinced that they did.
In the News
Pennsylvania Title 18.31.31 defines the unlawful dissemination of intimate images; it prohibits the sharing of photos, videos, and artificially generated images or videos without the consent of the person depicted in the content. The legal battle over so-called revenge porn started here in Pennsylvania, when a Lancaster County man fraudulently gained access to the online accounts of several Hollywood actors and shared sexually explicit images of them online. The man was sentenced to prison in 2016. Since then, the Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project has represented more than 120 clients whose images and deepfakes were created or shared without their consent. Whether the offense is a misdemeanor or felony depends on the age of the person depicted in the content.
Contact Gary E. Gerson About Criminal Defense Cases
A criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges for an Internet sex offense, such as the unlawful sharing of revenge porn or artificially generated sexual content. Contact the law offices of Gary E. Gerson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania about your case.
Sources:
nextpittsburgh.com/business-tech-news/kl-gates-lawyers-brace-for-deepfakes-in-revenge-porn-battle/
palegis.us/statutes/consolidated/view-statute?txtType=HTM&ttl=18&div=0&chapter=31§ion=31&subsctn=0
