In recent years, uploading or sharing images or videos online has become a social norm around the globe. However, when it involves intimate, disturbing, or nude images or video, circulation may take the form of a criminal activity known as “revenge porn.” This paper introduces revenge porn, including its emergence, civil as well as criminal responses, and its challenges.

In terms of civil responses to revenge porn, the authors introduce the Digital Industry Group Incorporated (DIGI) [1], comprising high-profile Internet companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Twitter, which made submissions to a senate inquiry. The authors define the term “harm” using the following words: “individual distress, emotional distress, coercion, harassment or intimidation.” They highlight that, in 2014, the United Kingdom (UK) specifically introduced a new offense, in Section 33 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015, that constitutes the intentional disclosure of a private sexual photograph or film, without the individual’s consent and causing that individual distress.

The authors gather international legislative reforms regarding revenge porn from Canada, Germany (more broadly the European Union), the UK, Israel, the US, New Zealand, and Australia. For example, Israel made a law that carries a prison sentence of up to five years. It defines those who are found guilty of posting obscene material as sexual offenders and those who are targeted as victims of sexual assault. The authors also include countries that have introduced new sections and acts to tackle revenge porn incidents.

This paper is an interesting read for legal professionals, policy makers, and human rights activists, as well as for researchers and academics working in the area. The authors propose two investigative challenges to law enforcement that make the paper worth reading: “anonymity of both the victim and offender,” which refers to the extant to which the secrecy and/or privacy of victims and offenders are maintained during legal proceedings; and “offenses of this kind are often transnational in nature--they occur in multiple countries and multiple legal jurisdictions,” highlighting the Internet’s significant role.