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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is opposing draft legislation in Minnesota [bbc.com] that would restrict the sharing of "revenge porn," or any explicit images published without someone's consent:

It cited images of Holocaust victims and prisoners at Abu Ghraib as examples of images depicting nudity which are shared without the subjects' consent. The MPAA called for the legislation to clarify that images shared without consent only broke the law if they were shared with an "intent to harass".

In a statement, the organisation said: "The MPAA opposes online harassment in all forms. While we agree with the aims... we are concerned that the current version of the bill is written so broadly that it could have a chilling effect on mainstream and constitutionally-protected speech."

But the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, which has campaigned for revenge porn to be made illegal, said an "intent to harass" provision would render the law "incoherent". "It would allow people to distribute private, sexually explicit material of no public concern unless it could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that their motive was to harass," the organisation said [endrevengeporn.org] in its response to the MPAA.

HF 2741 [mn.gov] at the Minnesota House of Representatives:

A bill for an act relating to public safety; creating a civil cause of action for the nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images and nonconsensual sexual solicitation; amending the crime of stalking to include nonconsensual sexual solicitation; expanding the definition of qualified domestic violence-related offense; establishing criminal penalties for nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images and nonconsensual sexual solicitation; clarifying the law of criminal defamation; amending Minnesota Statutes 2014, sections 609.02, subdivision 16; 609.748, subdivision 1; 609.749, subdivision 2; 609.765; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapters 604; 617.

Original Submission