Hawaiʻi “Revenge Porn” Bill Clears Committee

Porn in paradise, Maui Now image.

By Wendy Osher

A measure dubbed the “Revenge Porn” bill has advanced out of conference committee and heads to the full House and Senate for a vote on Tuesday, April 29, 2014.

House Bill 1750 establishes a first-degree offense of violating an individuals privacy if an image or video of sexual representation or nudity is distributed without the consent of the person represented, with an intent to cause harm.

Vice Speaker John Mizuno who authored the bill issued a press release statement today applauding the advancement of the measure saying, “With technology comes different crimes. Today our Judiciary conferees passed a very important and progressive bill to address a gap in the law and criminalize such offensive crimes.”

Mizuno said the consequences of posting private images with the intent of hurting an individual, “is degrading, humiliating, career threatening and at times may cause the person to commit suicide.”

He gave two examples (both outside of Hawaiʻi) in which individuals committed suicide after revenge images were released. According to Mizuno, a 15-year-old California girl committed suicide after nude photos of her were posted; and a 17-year-old girl from Brazil who was reportedly the victim of revenge porn also committed suicide.

Representative Mizuno called the offense a “hate crime” and said he believes his colleagues will support the bill.  “…After it goes to the governor, we could become the third state in the nation to have such legislation, behind California and New Jersey,” said Mizuno.