Changes introduced on Monday amended the Privacy Act to allow victims of non-consensual image sharing to reclaim control of those images and to prevent their distribution.
Gordon Wyant, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, said that “The malicious sharing of intimate images is exploitative and unacceptable. These changes will broaden Saskatchewan’s existing civil remedies to help victims of this despicable behaviour regain control of their intimate images.”
Previous versions of the Privacy Act were legally unclear as to the ownership of images uploaded to image-sharing sites. The result was that victims of non-consensual image sharing were oftentimes helpless to stop the online spread of their images. Courts may now order online platforms to remove and/or de-index images.
Victims of non-consensual image sharing can be anyone from teens who reasonably believed their images would remain private, to adults in abusive relationships whose partners record images and video of them to use as methods of control.
In other situations, the sharing was initially consensual, but upon a relationship breaking down, bitter partners use “revenge porn” to inflict damage. Because the initial sharing was consensual, it was difficult to find legal recourse. These amendments allow the withdrawal of consent for previous partners to possess intimate images.
The consequences of online bullying, intimidation, and blackmail are severe – and are only becoming more so as technology evolves and continues to integrate into every aspect of life. Victims have experienced the loss of employment, isolation and hostility from family and friends, and loss of mental and emotional health. In many tragic instances of cyberbullying, victims have been driven to suicide.
The amendments to the Privacy Act will include digitally altered copies of original recordings. The legislation also allows legal action against individuals who have not yet distributed intimate images but have threatened to do so.
Courts will now be able to order the return of intimate images to the victim and to order those in possession of such images to make every reasonable effort to prevent them from becoming available to others.
Margherita Vittorelli, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, was unable for privacy reasons to provide details on the number of cases in Saskatchewan each year. However, she affirmed that “the Act and these amendments will be a clear deterrent to (posting) such materials.”
Vittorelli also expressed the confidence of the Ministry of Justice that the Courts will be readily able to manage an increase in victim claims under the Privacy Act. She further clarified that Monday’s changes apply to civil, rather than criminal, actions.
Crimes involving intimate images should be reported to the police.
The complete press release can be found at www.saskatchewan.ca/government/news-and-media.
