New MA 'Revenge Porn' Law Signed By Healey After Years Of Debate

BOSTON, MA — Gov. Maura Healey Thursday signed a new law criminalizing so-called "revenge porn," an effort that dates back to the administration of former governor Charlie Baker.

The law aims to strengthen protections for sex abuse survivors and enhance education for young people about the dangers of sexting and deepfakes, Healey said in a news release.

Massachusetts has lagged many other states that have already acted to prohibit image-based sexual assault, which is the non-consensual sharing of explicit images, according to officials. The Bay State is the 49th state in the U.S. to criminalize revenge porn.

The law extends to computer-generated images like deepfakes, and will also expand the criminal harassment statute to prohibit the distribution of sexual images without consent, increase the maximum fines for criminal harassment convictions, and make the statute of limitations for certain domestic violence offenses equal to the statute of limitations for rape, assault with intent to commit rape, and sex trafficking.

"This law will save lives and strengthen our efforts to hold accountable those who would engage in abusive, coercive, and deeply harmful behavior. This is about stopping violence, because nobody deserves to be subjected to threats, abuse, or control," Healey said. "We're grateful to the Legislature for their hard work on this legislation, as well as to all of the survivors who bravely came forward to share their powerful stories of pain, fear and trauma to make a difference for generations to come."

"The diversion and education components of this bill are so important to make sure young people understand the dangers of sexting and deepfakes, especially as the technology available to them is rapidly changing," Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said in a news release.

"It also takes the critical step of expanding the definition of abuse to include coercive control, which will further support survivors of domestic violence that might not be physical, but still causes lasting harm and trauma," Driscoll said.