Revenge Porn Bill That Would See $100k+ Fines For Perpetrators Passes Senate

We’re one step closer to stricter revenge porn laws in Australia, with the Senate passing a bill that would see individuals fined up to $105,000 for non-consensual sharing of intimate images.

It would also see corporations fined up to $525,000 for the same thing.

The bill covers not just intimate images, but fake pornographic images that have been spreading across the web.

Consistently cooked unit David Leyonhjelm tried to argue that drawings, paintings or sketches be removed, on the basis that “If I posted a picture or a drawing of President Donald Trump urinating in Central Park, I shouldn’t fave a $100,000 fine”, but that was voted down.

Communications Minister Mitch Fifield said the bill included exemptions for satire and parody.

The bill, which was introduced by Nick Xenophon, has wide support, but Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill raised concerns that the bill doesn’t go far enough.

“It’s clear, in our view, that what is proposed in this bill by the government doesn’t go far enough,” she said. “The non-consensual sharing of intimate images is exploitative, is humiliating and is a very damaging form of abuse, and it needs to be treated as such.”

Xenophon passed an amendment to introduce three new offences, making it a criminal act to produce, share or threaten to share intimate images without consent. It will be debated again when the bill moves back to the House of Representatives.

Revenge porn cases are currently dealt with via a Commonwealth law that makes it a crime to use a carriage service in a menacing, harassing or offensive way. The maximum penalty for an offence is three years imprisonment and fines of up to $37,800.

Under this offence, there have been a number of successful prosecutions for revenge porn.

Crimes around revenge porn have only been examined in recent years, but a 2017 survey of over 4000 Australians found that 23 percent of those aged 16 to 45 have been a victim of image-based abuse.

Already New Zealand, Canada, Japan and the U.K. have adopted specific revenge porn laws.

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