Sharing explicit without consent could be jailable in England and Wales

The Online Safety Bill has been amended to make sharing explicit images without consent a jailable offence.

Sharing explicit without consent could lead to jail time in England and Wales.

The Online Safety Bill – which has been delayed due to many amendments, but is due to be voted on in the UK Parliament soon – has been updated to include room for the ability for judges to dole out six-month prison sentences to people who post ‘revenge porn’.

The sentence could also rise to two years if it can successfully be argued the guilty party had intended to cause distress, alarm, humiliation, or to obtain sexual gratification, and those convicted face potentially being added to the sex offenders’ register.

Revenge porn first became a crime in 2015. However, it had to be demonstrated that the accused intended to cause distress or embarrassment.

The change in the law has been welcomed by television personality Georgia Harrison, whose ex-boyfriend Stephen Bear, 33, was jailed for sharing intimate images of her without her consent in March.

The 28-year-old reality star told BBC News: “The reforms to the law that have been passed today are going to go down in history as a turning point for generations to come and will bring peace of mind to so many victims who have reached out to me whilst also giving future victims the justice they deserve.”

The government labelled the change a move to protect people from “vile abuse” amid the increase in pornographic deepfake imagery circulating on the internet.

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said: “We are cracking down on abusers who share or manipulate intimate photos in order to hound or humiliate women and girls.

“Our changes will give police and prosecutors the powers they need to bring these cowards to justice, safeguarding women and girls from such vile abuse.”