A Breach of Trust: Fighting Nonconsensual Pornography

• Author: Ari Ezra Waldman
• Position: Associate Professor of Law
• Pages: 709-733

A Breach of Trust: Fighting Nonconsensual Pornography Ari Ezra Waldman * ABSTRACT: Nonconsensual pornography, also known as “revenge porn,” is the distribution of sexually graphic or intimate images of individuals without their consent. As scholars have argued, it is, and should be treated as, a crime. But even with a national law criminalizing nonconsensual pornography, attorneys have to get creative to provide necessary civil remedies to victims in need. This Essay argues that practitioners should add the tort of breach of confidentiality to their arsenal of tools to fight nonconsensual pornography. Presenting evidence from, among other sources, a series of first-person interviews with victims of cyberharassment, this Essay shows that nonconsensual pornography does violence to essential social norms of trust at the core of social interaction. As such, the tort of breach of confidentiality, which focuses on remedying breaches of trust, should be deployed to help victims of “revenge porn” obtain justice. I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 710 II. REVENGE PORN AS SOCIAL HARM ................................................. 714 A. T HE N ARRATIVE OF I NDIVIDUAL H ARM .................................... 714 B. R EVENGE P ORN ’ S S OCIAL H ARM : A B REACH OF T RUST .............. 716 III. WEAPONS TO FIGHT REVENGE PORN ............................................ 719 A. P UBLIC D ISCLOSURE OF P RIVATE F ACTS .................................... 720 B. C OPYRIGHT L AW ..................................................................... 721 C. B REACH OF C ONFIDENTIALITY .................................................. 722 1. Confidentiality Jurisprudence ...................................... 723 * Associate Professor of Law; Director, Innovation Center for Law and Technology, New York Law School; Founder and Director, Tyler Clementi Institute for Internet Safety, New York Law School. Affiliate Scholar, Center for Information Technology Policy, Princeton University. Ph.D., Columbia University; J.D., Harvard Law School. The central thesis of this Essay was discussed at the First Annual Internet Safety Conference at New York Law School on October 3, 2015. The author would like to thank Danielle Keats Citron, Woodrow Hartzog, Frank Pasquale, Ann Bartow, Mary Anne Franks, Carrie Goldberg, Elisa D’Amico, Mark Hatzenbuehler, and Jacqueline Beauchere for their support, feedback, and commitment to internet safety. Essential research assistance was provided by Jeffrey Saavedra. 710 IOWA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 102:709 2. Applying Confidentiality Law to Revenge Porn .......... 727 3. Benefits of the Approach .............................................. 729 4. Limitations ..................................................................... 731 IV. CONCLUSION ................................................................................... 732 I. INTRODUCTION Nonconsensual pornography, also known as “revenge porn,” 1 is the distribution of sexually graphic or intimate images of individuals without their consent. 2 It can have devastating effects: Victims experience severe anxiety and depression and they are often placed in physical danger. They lose their jobs and have difficulty finding new ones. Many have to recede from online life, move far away, and even change their names to escape revenge porn’s long shadow. 3 In response, 35 states and the District of Columbia have criminalized the practice, 4 with legislation introduced in several others. 5 Only 1. The essential evil of revenge porn is not the motive animating the behavior, but the invasion of privacy and the transformation of victims into objects without their consent. See Mary Anne Franks, How to Defeat ‘Revenge Porn’: First, Recognize It’s About Privacy, Not Revenge , HUFFINGTON POST (June 22, 2015, 8:22 AM), http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-anne-franks/how-to-defeat-revenge-porn_b_ 7624900.html. For ease of comprehension, I will use “revenge porn,” “nonconsensual pornography,” and “cyberexploitation” interchangeably. The latter two are, however, far more appropriate terms. 2. Danielle Keats Citron & Mary Anne Franks, Criminalizing Revenge Porn , 49 WAKE FOREST L. REV. 345, 346 (2014). 3. See DANIELLE KEATS CITRON, HATE CRIMES IN CYBERSPACE 6–10 (2014) (discussing some of the devastating personal effects of cyberharassment). 4. ALASKA STAT. ANN. § 11.61.120 (West 2015); ARIZ. REV. STAT. ANN. § 13-1425 (Supp. 2015); ARK. CODE ANN. § 5-26-314 (Supp. 2015); CAL. PENAL CODE § 647 (West Supp. 2016); COLO. REV. STAT. ANN. § 18-7-107 (West Supp. 2015); CONN. GEN. STAT. ANN. § 53a-189a (West 2012 & Supp. 2016); DEL. CODE ANN. tit. 11, § 1335 (2015); D.C. CODE ANN. §§ 22-3051 to 22-3057 (West 2016); FLA. STAT. § 784.049 (2015); GA. CODE ANN. § 16-11-90 (West Supp. 2015); HAW. REV. STAT. § 711-1110.9 (2014); IDAHO CODE ANN. § 18-6609 (West 2016); 720 ILL. COMP. STAT. ANN. § 5/11-23.5 (2014); KAN. STAT. ANN. § 21-6101(8) (West 2016); LA. REV. STAT. ANN. § 14:283.2 (2004 & Supp. 2016); ME. REV. STAT. ANN. tit. 17-A, § 511-A (West Supp. 2015); MD. CODE ANN., CRIM. LAW § 3-809 (West Supp. 2015); MICH. COMP. LAWS ANN. §§ 750.145e, 750.145f (West 2016); MINN. STAT. ANN. § 617.261 (West 2016); NEV. REV. STAT. ANN. § 200.780 (West 2015); N.H. REV. STAT. ANN. § 644:9-a (2016); N.J. STAT. ANN. § 2C:14-9 (West 2015); N.M. STAT. ANN. § 30-37A-1 (West 2016); N.C. GEN. STAT. § 14-190.5A (2015); N.D. CENT. CODE § 12.1-17-07.2 (Supp. 2015); OKLA. STAT. ANN. tit. 21, § 1040.13b (West 2016); OR. REV. STAT. § 163.472 (2015); 18 PA. CONS. STAT. § 3131 (2015); TENN. CODE ANN. § 39-17-318 (West 2016); TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 21.16 (West Supp. 2015); UTAH CODE ANN. § 76-5b-203 (West 2016); VT. STAT. ANN. tit. 13, § 2606 (Supp. 2015); VA. CODE ANN. § 18.2-386.2 (2014); WASH. REV. CODE ANN. § 9A.86.010 (West 2016); WIS. STAT. § 942.09 (2013–2014). 5. Legislation has been introduced in Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, and South Carolina. See, e.g. , Lana Jones, Bill Would Make ‘Revenge Porn’ a Crime in Massachusetts , CBS BOS. (June 5, 2015, 1:52 PM), http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/06/05/bill-would-make-revenge-porn-a-crime-in-massachusetts; Tammy Mutasa, ‘Revenge Porn’ Bill Passes Unanimously in Kentucky House , WLWT5 (Feb. 15, 2016, 11:48 PM), http://www.wlwt.com/news/-Revenge-porn-bill-passes-unanimously-in-Kentucky-House/38013094; Collin Reischman, Engler Files ‘Revenge 2017] A BREACH OF TRUST 711 nine states offer victims civil remedies. 6 Google, Twitter, and even Reddit and PornHub are just a few of the internet platforms that have banned it, 7 and many, like Microsoft, provide users with forms and procedures to initiate the take-down or de-link process. 8 This landscape, though markedly improved from just five years ago, still inadequately protects victims, most of whom are women. 9 After substantial media attention 10 and the tireless efforts of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, 11 Congresswoman Jackie Speier finally introduced her proposal for a federal criminal nonconsensual pornography law on July 14, 2016. 12 The legislation Porn’ Bill , MO. TIMES (Jan. 28, 2014), http://themissouritimes.com/7918/engler-files-revenge-porn-bill. Notably, Rhode Island’s Governor, Gina Raimondo, recently became the first governor to veto a revenge porn bill. See Katherine Gregg, Raimondo Vetoes ‘Revenge Porn’ Bill , PROVIDENCE J. (June 21, 2016, 7:43 PM), http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20160621/raimondo-vetoes-revenge-porn-bill. 6. CAL. CIVIL CODE § 1708.85 (West Supp. 2016); FLA. STAT. § 784.049(5) (2015); N.C. GEN. STAT. § 14-190.5A(g) (2015); N.D. CENT. CODE § 32-03-58 (Supp. 2015); 42 PA. CONS. STAT. § 8316.1 (2015); TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REMEDIES CODE ANN. § 98B (West Supp. 2015); VT. STAT. ANN. tit. 13, § 2606 (Supp. 2015); WASH. REV. CODE ANN. § 4.24.795 (West 2016); WIS. STAT. § 995.50(2)(d) (2013–2014). 7. Christina Cauterucci, Pornhub Takes One Small Step to Fight Revenge Porn , SLATE (Oct. 14, 2015, 5:24 PM), http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2015/10/14/pornhub_combats_revenge_ porn.html; Samuel Gibbs, Twitter Bans Revenge Porn in User Policy Sharpening , GUARDIAN (Mar. 12, 2015, 8:13 AM), https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/12/twitter-bans-revenge-porn-in-user-policy-sharpening; Amanda Hess, Reddit Has Banned Revenge Porn. Sort Of. , SLATE (Feb. 25, 2015, 11:36 AM), http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/02/25/reddit_bans_revenge_porn_ victims_advocates_and_the_aclu_react_to_the_new.html; Heather Kelly & Laurie Segall, Google Bans Revenge Porn , CNN MONEY (June 19, 2015, 7:00 PM), http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/19/ technology/google-bans-revenge-porn. 8. See, e.g. , Report Content to Microsoft , MICROSOFT, https://support.microsoft.com/enus/getsupport?oaspworkflow=start_1.0.0.0&wfname=capsub&productkey=RevengePorn&ccsid= 635809546145079810 (last visited Nov. 12, 2016). 9. Numbers of revenge porn victims are hard to come by given self-reporting biases and the likelihood of underreporting. The Cyber Civil Rights Initiative organization suggests that approximately 90% of victims are women. Power in Numbers , CYBER C.R. INITIATIVE (Jan. 3, 2014), http://www.cybercivilrights.org/revenge-porn-infographic. A Press Investigation study conducted in the United Kingdom in July 2015 found that “eight females for every male” report being victimized by revenge porn. Oliver Wheaton, There’s Been a Massive Rise in Revenge Porn , METRO (July 16, 2015, 7:36 AM), http://metro.co.uk/2015/07/16/massive-rise-in-revenge-porn-incidents-including-victims-as-young-as-11-5297962. Given also the prevalence of women-only “revenge porn” sites, it is reasonable to conclude that the vast majority of victims are women. 10. See generally Citron & Franks, supra note 2; Mario Trujillo, John Oliver Calls for ‘Revenge Porn’ Laws , THE HILL (June 22, 2015, 10:01 AM)...