New Criminal Offense of Revenge Porn Introduced

The new offense is defined in the Draft as the "misuse of a recording, photograph, portrait, audio recording, or document with sexually explicit content" with the aim of protecting individuals from unauthorized distribution, alteration, publication, or threats of publication of their intimate recordings, photographs, portraits, audio recordings, or documents.

Criminal prosecution will be initiated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office ex officio.

In its explanation of the Draft, the Ministry of Justice notes that the new offense sanctions conduct that leads to serious violations of the right to privacy, dignity, and psycho-physical integrity, with particular emphasis on forms of digital violence.

The offense is structured to encompass different forms of unauthorized conduct, such as sharing or making content available to third parties without the consent of the person depicted, as well as the creation or alteration of existing content to present it as authentic, threats to make such content available, and making such content accessible to a wider audience through information and communication technologies.

Qualified forms of the offense are also prescribed if committed against a child or by an official in the course of duty, as well as the seizure of the content and devices used to commit the offense.

The basic form of the offense provides that anyone who makes available to a third party a video or other recording, photograph, portrait, audio recording, or document with sexually explicit content, without the consent of the person to whom the document relates, or without the consent of the person depicted or whose voice is recorded, shall be punished by imprisonment from three months to three years.

Also, anyone who, using a computer system, creates new or alters existing recordings, photographs, or documents with sexually explicit content, as well as anyone who threatens another that such content will be made available, shall be subject to punishment.

If the offense is committed against a child, the penalty ranges from one to eight years of imprisonment, while if committed by an official in the performance of duty against a child, the penalty is two to ten years of imprisonment.

The penalty framework has also been tightened for other sexual offenses and for domestic violence.
A public debate on the Draft Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code is underway and is scheduled to last until October 1.
 

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