Revenge-porn law makes it easier to take legal action

People who have had intimate images of themselves shared without consent in Saskatchewan now have more legal options.

A “revenge porn” law, introduced by the provincial government last October, is now in place.

“This legislation provides victims with a clear path for pursuing legal action against those who have victimized them by sharing their intimate images without consent,” Justice Minister and Attorney General Don Morgan said in a statement Monday.

People can now go to small claims court — where a lawyer isn’t needed — to seek compensation up to $30,000, as well as get an order to have the images removed. If they want to hire a lawyer and seek more than $30,000 in damages, the matter can be taken to provincial court.

In a Canadian first, the new law requires that the person who posted the image prove they had consent before posting it.

Morgan said last year this creates a “reverse onus” for the poster, and that alone can deter people from posting intimate images.

Under the law, an intimate image is a visual image, including photos or videos, in which a person is nude, partially nude, or engaged in explicit sexual activity, made in circumstances that implied a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Morgan made clear last year that people’s privacy should be protected and “in the age of the internet, it’s too easy to have those things posted and not taken down, so hopefully people have some sober second thought before doing something like that.”

Across the country, people with intimate images unwillingly shared online have been able to seek action in court.

In what was likely the first time such a matter had been brought forward in a civil suit, a judge awarded an individual more than $140,000 after an intimate video was shared online without the person’s consent.

That was in Ontario, where no law like the one now available in Saskatchewan exists.

In November 2015, Manitoba enacted legislation allowing issues of “non-consensual distribution of intimate images” to be heard in civil cases.

That law has been in force since the start of 2016. Nova Scotia introduced a law in October similar to this model.

According to the Saskatchewan government, Alberta has a law to permit a person whose intimate image was distributed without consent to sue the person who distributed them for damages.

In the age of the internet, it’s too easy to have those things posted and not taken down …