The Missouri Legislature has passed a revenge porn measure.
The House passed the bill by a 133-0 margin Thursday after the Senate unanimously approved it 33-0 Wednesday. The measure originally cleared the House in late February and had been modified by the Senate which required one more vote in the lower chamber.
If signed into law by the governor, it would create a felony crime for distributing intimate images of another individual when a reasonable person would understand that the image was private.
The Senate added language to hold internet service providers liable if they don’t remove revenge porn images within five days of being notified of them.
Another provision in the measure would create a felony offense for threatening to distribute nonconsensual private sexual images. That portion was added on the House floor in late February, three days before Republican Gov. Eric Greitens was indicted on what has turned out to be the first of two felony charges.
In that charge, he’s accused of taking a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman and threatening to distribute it if she spoke about their encounter.
The bill’s sponsor at the time, Rep. Jim Neely, R-Cameron, said there was no connection between Greitens’ alleged activity and the new addition to the measure.
In the U.S., 38 states and the District of Columbia have outlawed revenge porn. The current bill in the legislature marks at least the fourth year Missouri lawmakers have pushed to follow suit. The measure has cleared the General Assembly with six days left in the current session.
Read a more detailed accounting of the revenge porn bill from Missourinet here.
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