California outlaws ‘revenge porn’

California governor Jerry Brown has signed a first-of-its-kind state law criminalising what has become known as ‘revenge porn’, the distribution of private, explicit photos of other people on the internet, usually by ex-lovers or spouses, to humiliate them.

The measure, which passed both houses of the Democrat-led state legislature almost unanimously, makes it a crime for individuals to take and then circulate without consent such images online with the intent to harass or annoy. A conviction is punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

It takes aim at an increasingly prevalent act of betrayal that typically occurs when a person posts nude images of a former romantic partner online as a way of exacting revenge after a break-up.