Don’t sext, ’cause you’ll get screwed in the end.

Revenge porn, also known as involuntary pornography is the act of posting a sexual picture or video of your ex-significant other, without consent, in order to ‘get revenge.’ There are websites that are dedicated to these disturbing photos, which have primarily been used to target women.

There are many long term effects of cyber bullying. Along with embarrassment comes the stress put on the victim. You get to a point where your mind is so overwhelmed with how people perceive you and how it will affect you for the rest of your life that your confidence, self-esteem and sense of security is undermined. In many cases cyber bullying leads to thoughts and actions that can develop into suicide.

Amanda Todd committed suicide Oct. 10, 2012 after creating a video that narrated the years of bullying she received at her school and online. The video made references to her previous suicide attempts and the humiliation she felt.

According to ABC News, Todd described her hobby for chatting with people online, including a man who pressured her to flash her chest. When she did the man took a photo of her chest and put the picture online sending it to everyone she knew.

Even after moving towns and schools multiple times, the man continued to follow her online. The photo and the bullying that followed both online and at her school drove her to depression, drugs, alcohol, cutting, and a suicide attempt with bleach.

Amanda Todd is just one of the many victims of cyber bullying.

California has established a new law making revenge porn illegal. While the law is a good start, it has many loopholes that legislature must address in order to better protect the victims.

People convicted of distributing sexual images or videos of ex-lovers face up to six months of jail time and a $1,000 fine. Wisconsin and New York are also considering anti-revenge porn laws.

According to Forbes, if the victim takes the recording or picture of themselves and somebody posts it online that is not considered illegal. Only if the poster was also the photographer would the action be considered illegal. Anyone else who might distribute the recording or picture, including website operators, cannot be prosecuted either.

More disturbing though is that people who obtain the recording or image by hacking into the victim’s computer or cellphone, and then distribute the recording, cannot be held liable under this new law.

On the other hand, if both parties agree that the content should remain private beforehand and the image is still posted, regardless of who took the image, the posting itself is still illegal. Unfortunately, if the victim and suspect disagree about their expectations for the recording or photo then it will make a conviction much more challenging.

Since the defendant has to have intent to damage the victim in order for the law to apply, it is difficult to convict without an admission from the defendant or the proverbial “smoking gun.”

According to CNN, up to 80 percent of the people on revenge porn sites had taken the pictures of themselves.

Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, also known as CCRI, is a group founded by targets of revenge porn and activists that strive to help victims of cyber harassment by raising social awareness about the issue. By promoting state and federal legislation to protect against such abuse, providing a platform for support and discovering resources for those struggling with their own circumstances, this group strives to put a stop to the despicable practice. Although the law is a first step, citizens of the United States should stand alongside CCRI to encourage justice for those who suffer from this form of cyber bullying.

If you send provocative pictures or videos to your significant other, or to any person for that matter, you’re setting yourself up for embarrassment. Posting videos or photographs of someone is indeed a serious issue, but the law should also apply to the websites that host the content; they should be terminated.

Revenge porn websites are a disgrace to human beings and serve as an example of the cruelty that we sometimes engage in. The U.S. as a whole should take part in creating laws against these troubling websites in order to protect, secure and restore the lives of the human beings they exploit. 

-Chelsea Keyes is a sophomore communication major from Tacoma. She can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of Student Publications.