Bayside lawmaker’s revenge porn bill becomes law
Braunstein’s legislation grants courts authority to order content be removed from websites
BY MARK HALLUM
The state legislature and
Gov. Andrew Cuomo have
finally approved a Bayside
lawmaker’s bill that has failed
in the senate repeatedly in
New York to make revenge
porn a prosecutable offense.
State Assemblyman
Edward Braunstein has
pushed for the bill’s passage
for up to six years, which could
not only put an offender away
for up to a year but would also
grants courts the authority to
order content related to the
victim to be removed from
various websites.
Braunstein has introduced
the bill every year since 2014,
which passed the assembly
unanimously last year. But the
senate, a Republican majority
at the time, did not even bring
it to the floor after alleged
pressure from the Internet
Association and Google, a
spokesman for the Bayside
assemblyman said.
“Revenge porn is a
pervasive problem that often
results in victims being
threatened with sexual
assault, stalked, harassed, or
fired from jobs,” Braunstein
said. “Some victims have
even committed suicide due
to the severe emotional pain
caused by the disclosure of
their intimate photos. The
passage of this legislation
sends a strong message that
individuals who engage in this
type of reprehensible behavior
will be held accountable for
their actions.”
Both houses of the
legislature voted on Feb. 28
in favor of the bill, which
Cuomo called a key component
in his administration’s
Women’s Agenda.
“For years I have called
for outlawing revenge porn
as part of our fight to combat
sexual violence in all its
forms. This disgusting and
insidious behavior, which can
follow victims around their
entire lives, has no place in
New York,” Cuomo said in
Both houses of the legislature voted on Feb. 28 in favor of the
bill, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo called a key component in his
administration’s Women’s Agenda. Courtesy of Braunstein’s offi ce
a statement. “We will never
stop fighting to protect and
strengthen women’s rights
and opportunity.”
Once the bill is signed into
law, perpetrators could face up
to a year in prison as well as
fines and other civil penalties
while the courts would have
the authority to order websites
to removed images violating
the rights of victims, which
Braunstein says makes New
York the first state to do this.
“No one — absolutely no
one — should be subjected to
having their most intimate
moments blasted across
the internet without their
consent,” said Assembly
Speaker Carl Heastie. “Today’s
legislation will ensure that
people who illegally publish
the intimate images of others
are held accountable for their
reprehensible actions.”
Carrie Goldberg, an
attorney and advisory board
member at the Cyber Civil
Rights Initiative, said she
first started pursuing support
for legislation regarding
revenge porn when she
herself had nearly become a
victim herself
“This law puts sexual
privacy where it belongs – in
the hands of New Yorkers,”
said Goldberg. “I started my
firm in 2014 to fight for victims
of sexual assault and stalking
because I couldn’t find a lawyer
when I was under attack by
a vengeful ex threatening to
spread pictures of me. And over
the last five years, hundreds of
New Yorkers have sought our
help when they suffered the
humiliation and backlash from
their most private moments
being posted on the internet
and social media for the world
to see. Some lost jobs; others
were blackmailed and stalked
by strangers.”
City Councilman Rory
Lancman passed the bill at the
city level which was enacted in
December 2017.
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