Revenge porn now a felony in Hawaii (Video)

HONOLULU —There are entire websites dedicated to revenge porn; where jilted lovers take revenge by posting racy photos online.

But now, doing that just became a felony in Hawaii.

Click here to watch Yunji de Nies’ report.

In the digital age intimacy can mean sharing a sexy selfie or video, but after a bad breakup, naughty fun can have a nasty payback.

There’s an entire online niche devoted to shaming exes.

“It’s just so unfair for the person to attack their ex. It’s almost as if they’re holding them hostage, torturing them, by sending out these nude photos or videos of them,” said Rep. John Mizuno, Vice Speaker.

Just ask Lauren Lala whose pictures ended up on one of those sites.

She says plenty of other Hawaii women are there too. Complete strangers rate them, trade them and who knows what else.

“You know that’s probably the thing that they don’t want. They’re like, ‘I’m not like that’ but somehow it ended up on there,” said Lala.

Some sites go as far as listing the women’s contact information or workplace. That’s why Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed into a law a bill Friday making it a felony to engage in revenge porn.

Distributing private photos to hurt another person could land a person up to five years behind bars.

Mizuno authored the measure and said private activities need to be protected.

“If I do something lewd and outrageous in a crowd at Aloha Stadium, that’s not private speech. That’s done in the public. However, when you have two consensual lovers or two taking a video that’s between them, it shouldn’t be between anyone else. It’s private,” said Mizuno.

If you are a victim of revenge porn, Mizuno says the best action is to call police. Don’t engage with the sites directly. Let the authorities take it from there.

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