• What is revenge porn?

If social networks remain in the digital age, an excellent means of communication and exchange, it is clear that it remains a channel where different acts are committed: This is the case of revenge porn.

What is it then?

Revenge porn, also known as pornographic revenge, consists of making known to a third party or to the public, images, videos, words, recordings of a sexual or intimate nature of a person without their consent.

The person whose sexual recordings, images or videos have been broadcast and exposed without his or her consent then becomes a victim of revenge porn.

• Who are the victims of revenge porn?

Revenge porn can affect all kinds of people. It can be women, men, teenagers, people with different sexual orientations, people in high positions in society, etc.

What all these victims of revenge porn have in common is the purpose or goal of the perpetrator.  Most of the time, it is the will to harm, humiliate or undermine the moral or psychological integrity, the respect of the private life, the dignity or the honor of the person who is the victim.

Is considered a victim of revenge porn, any person who has suffered an attack on his privacy, honor, image, human dignity through a website.

• What does the law say about revenge porn?

Since the entry into force of Law No. 2016-1321 of October 7, 2016 for a digital republic, revenge porn is considered a crime and punishable by the Penal Code.

Article 226-2-1 of the Penal Code defines revenge porn as “The fact, in the absence of the person’s consent for dissemination, to bring to the attention of the public or a third party any recording or document of words or images of a sexual nature, obtained with the express or presumed consent of the person or by himself, using one of the acts provided for in Article 226-1.”[1]

From this legal definition, it appears that revenge porn requires the existence of a material element and a moral element.

The material element of the offence supposes the existence of an image, a recording, a video of a sexual or intimate nature.

The moral element, on the other hand, supposes on the one hand, the diffusion of this element without the consent of the person by any means such as: a sms, an e-mail, on websites such as: Tiktok, twitter, Facebook, Instagram; Snapchat etc. On the other hand, it assumes the will of its author to harm his victim.

In other words, for revenge porn to be punishable, the perpetrator of the act must have in his possession elements of a sexual nature of another person and must bring these elements to public knowledge without the consent of the victim and this, with the intention to harm.

Moreover, there are cases where you can be a victim of a revenge porn blackmail.  What is a blackmail of revenge porn?

Article 312-10 of the Penal Code defines blackmail as: “The fact of obtaining, by threatening to reveal or impute facts likely to harm honor or consideration, either a signature, a commitment or a renunciation, or the revelation of a secret, or the handing over of funds, values or any property. Blackmail is punishable by five years’ imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros[2].

Article 312-11 punishes the perpetrator once he has carried out his blackmail with a sentence of seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of €100,000[3].

• What damages does the victim of revenge porn suffer?

The victim of revenge porn suffers moral, psychological or psychological damage.

The purpose of revenge porn is to violate the victim’s privacy, image, dignity, honor and intimacy. It is thus a moral or psychological prejudice.

In other cases, revenge porn can lead to suicide. It is then a question of a moral prejudice having caused the suicide of the victim.

In the first case, it is an offence which is provided for and punished by article 226-2-1 of the penal code. The sexual nature of the offence is considered an aggravating circumstance and carries a penalty of one to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of between 45,000 and 60,000 euros.

In the second case, it is an offence punishable under article 223-13 of the Penal Code by three years imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros.

• What compensation or reparation for a victim of revenge porn?

You are victim of a revenge porn. How to obtain compensation for the moral prejudice suffered ?

Legal basis

If you have suffered a web blackmail, a dishonor, a moral prejudice under your right to privacy and right to image, the civil and criminal liability of the author can be engaged.

 You can thus obtain compensation for your prejudice on the basis of article 9 of the Civil Code, which recognizes the right to privacy, and article 226-2-1 of the Penal Code, which makes it possible to punish the author of the revenge porn and to force him to compensate you.

This right to privacy is also guaranteed by other texts such as article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights.

In addition, you have the right to the deletion of your images, personal recording thanks to Article 17 of the EU Regulation 2016/679.

The need to call a lawyer

You are a victim of revenge porn and you want to be compensated for the moral damage suffered, contact a lawyer to assert your rights.

 Do not hesitate to contact us

[1] https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000033207318

[2]https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000006418180

[3] https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000006418182