Legislators back bill to combat ‘ revenge porn’
Washington, Nov. 29: A group of bipartisan lawmakers introduced legislation on Wednesday to combat online sexual exploitation, just a week after the leak on social media of an explicit photo of a Republican congressman from Texas.
The legislation would create federal criminal liability for “revenge porn,” already forbidden in most states but not in federal law.
Last week, a nude photograph of representative Joe Barton was leaked on Twitter, prompting a swift apology from the lawmaker.
Mr Barton said he had sent intimate material to a lover and she had threatened to make it public when he ended the relationship. The woman denied being the source of the leak.
Circulating explicit material without the subject’s consent is against the law in most states, Texas among them, although it is not known where the leak came from. The new bill, dubbed the Enough Act, would make such misconduct a federal crime as well. The legislation has the backing of Democratic Senators Kamala Harris of California and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota as well as Republican senator Richard Burr of North Carolina.
Tim O’Hare, Republican Party chairman in Mr Barton’s home county of Tarrant, said in a statement Tuesday that the congressman shouldn’t seek re- election and should retire by year’s end. Jake Ellzey, a retired Naval combat pilot and member of the Texas Veterans Commission, filed paperwork on Wednesday to challenge Mr Barton in a Republican primary. — AP