Smartphones, Nude Snaps, and Legal Loopholes: Why Pennsylvania Needs to Amend its Revenge Porn Statute

Authors

  • Vanessa Nicholle Griffith

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/tlp.2016.192

Abstract

UGotPosted.com, SnapSext.com, SnapGFs.com, snapchatleaked.com, Huntermoore.tv, etc., are websites where you do not want to find your picture.  These websites are nonconsensual pornography websites.  If you do unexpectedly find an intimate image of yourself on one of these websites—or any other porn website for that matter— your best legal recourse is through your state’s revenge porn law.  However, if your state has yet to enact one, you might have to fight a legal battle in a notoriously grey area of the law.  Pennsylvania recently enacted a revenge porn statute in 2014. But, prior to the adoption of 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 3131, entitled “Unlawful Dissemination of Intimate Image,” Pennsylvania residents had to navigate through the grey area of legal recourse, such as arguing one’s case under Pennsylvania’s Invasion of Privacy statute. This new area of sexual harassment through high-tech means proved to be growing and could no longer be ignored by state legislatures.

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Published

2016-12-07

How to Cite

Griffith, V. N. (2016). Smartphones, Nude Snaps, and Legal Loopholes: Why Pennsylvania Needs to Amend its Revenge Porn Statute. Pittsburgh Journal of Technology Law & Policy, 16(2), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.5195/tlp.2016.192

Issue

Section

Staff Article Series