Reforms to the Online Safety Bill will make it easier to convict people who share revenge porn

Reforms are being added to the Online Safety Bill following campaigning from former Love Island star Georgia Harrison.

Under the new reforms, ex-partners who share revenge porn will face up to six months in prison even if they didn’t meant to cause distress to victims. Sharing deep fake intimate photos or videos will also be criminalised with up to two years in custody.

The changes come after a review by the Law Commission and after Georgia Harrison took her ex-partner Stephen Bear to court after he shared footage of them having sex without her permission.

In March 2023, Bear was sentenced to 21 months in prison after being found guilty of voyeurism and disclosing private, sexual photographs and films.

“The reforms to the law that has been passed today are going to go down in history as a turning point for generations to come and will bring peace of mind to so many victims who have reached out to me whilst also giving future victim’s the justice they deserve,” Georgia Harrison said.

“I’m so grateful to everyone who supported me throughout this campaign and it just goes to show how amazing our country is that the government have reacted so quickly to push through these amendments.”

Talking about the amendments to the Online Safety Bill, Justice Minister Edward Argar said: “No-one should ever fear that their intimate images will be put online without their consent and the true courage shown by Georgia Harrison to tell her story will help empower more victims to come forward and get the justice they deserve.

“Our reforms will make it easier to convict these vile individuals and protect women from being subject to such predatory abuse.”

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Revenge porn was criminalised in 2015 but the amendments to the bill will remove the requirement for lawyers to prove someone intended to cause distress.

Ruth Davison, the chief executive of Refuge, said: “Refuge welcomes these amendments to the Online Safety Bill. Intimate image abuse is a multifaceted and complex form of domestic abuse, which can be perpetrated in many ways. The amendments to the Online Safety Bill announced today will make it easier to prosecute perpetrators of intimate image abuse, ensuring justice and better protections for survivors.”

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Featured image credit via Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Shutterstock.