Criminalising revenge porn

Abstract

Revenge pornography is a current crime which involves disgruntled lovers to upload on social media, intimate pictures of their once loved one with disparaging comments. As soon as the picture is uploaded it is shared within seconds and the victim’s life is turned upside down. The research project titled “Criminalising Revenge Porn” examines the emotions and legal aspects behind this act of revenge pornography. The introduction focuses on the progress of pornography alongside technology and the growth of sex trade with the development of the internet. Section 1 gives an insight on what constitutes revenge pornography and a historical overview of this act which takes us back to the 1970s. This section also gives the research project a humane aspect as it brings out the devastating emotions felt by victims. Section 2 examines possible and current legal actions which address the topic, namely Tort, Copyright, Human Rights and Criminal law in order to establish whether these are enough. A comparative study is made in Section 3. Many scholars and advocates have pushed and are pushing for the criminalisation of Revenge Pornography with many pressure groups set up to encourage governments to follow states that have already criminalised the act like California, Illinois, New Jersey, Israel and the United Kingdom. Some believe that this is the only way to punish wrongdoers and to act as deterrent. Current Maltese Criminal and Civil law are then analysed in Section 4. An examination of the Maltese proposed law on revenge porn is made to see whether it is strong enough to aid in the fight against revenge pornography.