Ten years of cyber civil rights: The fight against revenge porn in Pennsylvania

Ten Years of Cyber Civil Rights: The Fight Against Revenge Porn in Pennsylvania

In the decade since a Lancaster County man used a notorious phishing scheme to distribute intimate images of celebrities, efforts to combat nonconsensual sharing of private photos — known as “revenge porn” — have continued to evolve. This crime became infamously known as “Celebgate” and led to a federal prison sentence for the perpetrator in 2016. Since then, significant strides have been made in Pennsylvania and across the United States to provide legal recourse for victims of such actions.

The Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project was founded in 2014 to offer legal assistance to victims of revenge porn. Co-founded by David Bateman and Elisa D’Amico, the initiative addresses a once-neglected intersection of cyber-forensics and law. Bateman, whose experience includes tech-centric legal work with giants like Microsoft and Amazon, highlighted a persistent enemy: human behaviour adapting to technological advancements.

Bateman, speaking about the initiative, noted: “In the old days, you’d get a letter from the Nigerian prince, then it’d be an email, and now it’s a text. The behaviour hasn’t changed; it just moves with the technology.” The project has seen more than 400 lawyers globally contribute over 28,000 pro bono hours, aiming to eventually work themselves out of a job.

In Pennsylvania, more than 120 residents have reported cases of non-consensual image sharing in the past decade. These figures represent just a fraction of the total number, given the state’s population and the ongoing development of legal structures. Amy Groff, a Harrisburg-based lawyer and vice chair of the Cyber Civil Rights Project, highlighted limitations in Pennsylvania’s statute, which requires proving intent to annoy, harass, or alarm a current or former partner. Such constraints challenge effective legal redress, as motivations for distributing such images vary widely.

Over the past years, legal frameworks have expanded. Forty-nine states have enacted criminal and/or civil laws addressing revenge porn, alongside a federal statute allowing victims to file lawsuits in federal court. This law affords victims the greater value of their damages or a standard sum of $150,000.

Bateman and Groff have also turned their attention to new threats arising from advancements in artificial intelligence, such as deepfake nudes. While Pennsylvania has yet to introduce federal legislation, more than a dozen states have made creating and distributing these AI-generated explicit images illegal. Pennsylvania’s Senate Bill 1213 aims to address this by expanding the definition to include artificially created sexual depictions.

Despite technological advancements, the challenge persists in changing human behaviour. Bateman stresses the importance of cultural change: “All the lawsuits in the world and all the arrests in the world — while helpful in spreading the word — aren’t going to stop this type of human behaviour.”

As the Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project celebrates its 10th anniversary, its lawyers continue to advocate for victims, navigating the complexities of the digital world while recognising that the problem roots itself in behaviour rather than the technology itself. Groff underscores the ongoing mission: “My goal is that we can continue this momentum. We’ve steadily increased in terms of what we’re doing and how many people we’re reaching. I’d love to see us continue with those efforts — find innovative ways to help people.”

Source: Noah Wire Services