Since February, if you share someone’s explicit or intimate videos or images without that person’s consent in New York City, you could be prosecuted for distributing “revenge porn” and convicted of a misdemeanor charge.

What constitutes revenge porn? Is it a crime that you could be accused of due to a mistake or a misunderstanding?

WHAT IS NEW YORK’S NEW REVENGE PORN LAW?

The revenge porn law adopted by New York City last year went into effect in February. Offenders convicted of distributing revenge porn in New York City may be fined up to $1,000 and sent to jail for up to one year.

As the internet continues to expand and to gain influence in our lives, disseminating revenge porn – the distribution of salacious images without a subject’s consent – has emerged as a genuine and growing national concern.

Jurisdictional questions may be an obstacle to the enforcement of the New York City revenge porn law. If the alleged perpetrator and victim both live in New York City, and that is where any images or videos are distributed from, the law will apply.

But it remains unclear how the new law will apply if the alleged perpetrator resides outside of New York City, or if the perpetrator, for example, goes to New Jersey and uses a computer there to disseminate the images online.

WHY IS REVENGE PORN A DIFFICULT ISSUE FOR SOME LAWMAKERS?

How to deal with revenge porn continues to be a struggle for some lawmakers. The matter seems straightforward at first – it’s wrong to use private images to intimidate, humiliate, or harass someone – and the people who distribute such images should be punished by the law.

But free speech defenders worry that regulating what is posted online could sometimes keep the public from learning the truth about politicians and other public figures.

Arizona’s revenge porn law was even challenged, for instance, by the American Civil Liberties Union as a violation of the right to freedom of speech.

And across the nation, prosecutors have repeatedly explained that revenge porn crimes are hard to prosecute and that the language in the current laws is too imprecise.

HOW MANY STATES HAVE LAWS BANNING REVENGE PORN?

However, in spite of those concerns, thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia have now adopted revenge porn laws, but the statutes vary widely, and twelve states still have no specific revenge porn statutes.

Activists who are fighting against revenge porn insist that because of the pervasive and expanding nature of the internet, only a federal ban on revenge porn will be fully effective.

Those activists are now getting some help from three U.S. senators and a number of representatives.

IS A THERE A PROPOSAL TO BAN REVENGE PORN IN EVERY STATE?

Senators Kamala Harris of California, Richard Burr of North Carolina, and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota are sponsoring the Ending Nonconsensual Online User Graphic Harassment (ENOUGH) Act.

This legislation would ban – at the federal level – sharing anyone’s intimate videos or other sexual images without that person’s consent. The proposed law also sets aside funding to facilitate its enforcement by the Justice Department.

Senator Harris told the online magazine Bustle, “It is long past time for the federal government … to crack down on these crimes. Perpetrators of exploitation who seek to humiliate and shame their victims must be held accountable.”

Lawmakers are not the only people who have been taking action against revenge porn.

Facebook, for example, is reportedly using new tools to detect suspected revenge porn images before they can be widely shared.

And a spokesperson for Tumblr told Vice Media that “Tumblr’s Community Guidelines explicitly prohibit non-consensual pornography and the posting of others’ personally identifying or confidential information.”

HOW DOES “REVENGE PORN” HAPPEN?

In most cases, revenge porn uses recordings or images that were initially made with the subject’s cooperation, but with an agreement or promise that the material would remain confidential.

Predictably, and as you might imagine, revenge porn cases arise most frequently out of romantic situations that have “gone bad.”

On Long Island, in New York City, or anywhere in the state, if you are charged with posting revenge porn on the internet, you will need the advice and representation of an experienced Long Island criminal defense lawyer.

WHAT CAN BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF A REVENGE PORN CONVICTION?

Someone who disseminates revenge porn will probably also be targeted by a civil lawsuit filed by the victim. Revenge porn victims have prevailed in a number of these cases – in one case, a victim was awarded $500,000.

If you are a professional, or if you seek a professional license in New York, a conviction on a revenge porn charge could threaten your ability to keep or obtain that license.

And should you apply to particular colleges or universities, or if you apply for employment to some companies, a conviction for revenge porn could mean that your application will be rejected.

HOW CAN A DEFENSE ATTORNEY HELP?

If you face any charge in New York related to revenge porn, you must contact – immediately – an experienced Long Island criminal defense lawyer who is familiar with the revenge porn law and the legal defenses that are effective in these cases.

It may not be easy for the state to prove a suspect’s guilt in a revenge porn case beyond a reasonable doubt. But anyone who is charged with the crime will need a good defense attorney’s help.

Another person may have disseminated revenge porn from your computer or another device without your consent or even your knowledge. You might simply have been distracted or confused, and you may have distributed or posted what you thought was a different image.

WHEN CAN A REVENGE PORN CHARGE BE ENTIRELY DISMISSED?

If law enforcement officers violated your legal rights to gather evidence against you in a revenge porn case, it may be possible in some cases that your attorney could have the charge entirely dismissed.

And finally, depending on a suspect’s relationship with the purported revenge porn victim, the entire matter may simply have been a mistake or a misunderstanding.

Revenge porn is sometimes posted as a prank, but if you are charged with distributing revenge porn or with a related crime in New York City, it’s a genuinely serious matter.

Your freedom could literally be at stake. You must have the experienced criminal defense representation you need – immediately.