Revenge in Modern Times: The Necessity of a Federal Law Criminalizing Revenge Porn

Revenge porn is a growing phenomenon where the victim is constantly re-victimized as the intimate photographs are shared across the Internet. Once a picture has been uploaded victims have no control over its distribution. The current patchwork of state criminal laws is often inadequate because the victim cannot utilize them to force websites to remove the photographs, the laws are often inadequate, and often police or legislatures fail to recognize that revenge porn is a type of sexual exploitation. States are only now beginning to take the complaints seriously. This paper sets out to define revenge porn, explain why it is a growing phenomenon, and how revenge porn fundamentally violates a person’s privacy and how this privacy violation spreads to all facets of the victim’s life. It will examine the need for federal intervention in order to protect the privacy rights of victims and ensure that law enforcement takes the issue seriously