B.C. proposes law for sharing of intimate images online without permission

VICTORIA — The British Columbia government is moving to protect people whose intimate images have been shared online without their permission as police warn of a growing threat of so-called sextortion.

Attorney General Niki Sharma told the legislature that the law the government is proposing would create new legal rights and remedies to stop the distribution of intimate images and to seek compensation for those who are harmed.

She told a news conference the legislation covers intimate images, near-nude photos, videos, livestreams and digitally altered images, including videos known as deep fakes.

Sharma says it will require an offender to delete or destroy images or order social media platforms to remove them and scrub the images from search engines.

She says the Civil Resolution Tribunal is also working to expand its online portal to provide information on people’s rights, access to immediate self-help tools and to connect them to mental-health supports.

If the bill is approved, Sharma says the legislation will be retroactive or available to prosecutors back to the moment she tabled it on Monday.

“That means that people who distribute or threatened to distribute intimate images without consent are on notice that they will face new legal consequences, even if the wrongful conduct happens before the legislation comes into force,” she said.

It comes as police across Canada have issued cautions to parents and young people about the rise in online sextortion of youth, where criminals threaten to post sexual images unless they are given money.

Many Canadians learned of the risks of sextortion through Amanda Todd, the Port Coquitlam teenager who died by suicide at age 15 in 2012, shortly after she posted a video about being tormented by an online predator.