- Benjamin Griveaux, LREM candidate for mayor of Paris, threw in the towel this Friday after the dissemination of intimate videos on social networks.
- A site had broadcast Wednesday night two sex tape and sexually connoted messages to a woman, claiming that they came from the former government spokesman.
- Since the adoption of the law "for a digital republic" in 2016, "the dissemination of revenge porn is punishable by two years' imprisonment and a fine of 60,000 euros", explains Me Morain, a lawyer specializing in cyber harassment. The law provides for punishing with the same penalties all those who disseminate these images, even by a simple republication on social networks.
It is a thunderbolt in the race for the battle of the Hôtel de Ville, and perhaps a step in the online attacks on the privacy of politicians in France. Benjamin Griveaux, macronist candidate for mayor of Paris, threw in the towel this Friday after the broadcast of intimate videos. A site had broadcast Wednesday night two sex tape and sexually connoted messages to a woman, claiming that they came from the former government spokesman.
The videos, relayed Thursday on social networks, presented two short close-up sequences showing an unidentified man masturbating, as well as screenshots of messages exchanged in the tone of the drag. Contacted by 20 Minutes , Richard Malka, lawyer for Benjamin Griveaux, indicates that he will initiate proceedings for "invasion of privacy". He intends to rely in particular on Article 9 of the Civil Code and especially on Article 226-1-2 of the Criminal Code, which provides for a sentence of two years in prison and a fine of 60,000 euros for the authors of what the we call "porn revenge", or "pornographic revenge".
What is "revenge porn"?
This practice consists in taking revenge on a person by making public on the Internet so-called pornographic content, photos, videos or intimate messages of the interested party, without his consent. These images or messages may have been produced by the victim himself or by another person, with or without the victim's agreement. "It is a practice in full expansion in recent years, which we see in particular in cases of cyberbullying," explains lawyer Eric Morain, specialist in cyberbullying, to 20 Minutes .
Most victims of porn revenge are women. “If this provision was created in 2016 in the penal code, it is because there have been dramatic cases of adolescent girls confronted with these situations, and many cases of women victims of reprisals from their ex - joint after conflicting ruptures, "adds Me Morain, who currently defends ten clients faced with this type of situation, most of them women.
What is the risk of spreading sexual images of another person?
The first conviction in France for this kind of case dates back to April 3, 2014, when a 35-year-old man was given a 12-month suspended prison sentence and 5,000 euros fine by the Metz criminal court for dissemination on websites intimate images of his ex-girlfriend, a teacher who discovered the facts through her students. But since 2016, the legislation has evolved. Broadcasting another person's intimate videos on the Internet without their consent is now considered a crime in France.
Revenge porn is a criminal offense and a plague in our hyper-connected societies. Whoever the victims are, whether we like it or not. And we have to fight. I hope that a complaint will be filed and be successful. https://t.co/Dj34HfbS7z
- Eric Morain (@EricMorain) February 14, 2020"The law for a digital republic of October 2016 contains two articles [226-1 and 226-2] expressly repressing porn revenge , details Eric Morain. On the scale of convictions, fairly severe penalties have been laid down, which can go up to two years' imprisonment and a fine of 60,000 euros, ”added the lawyer. "The law punishes the offense of revenge porn regardless of whether the person has given consent to the initial recording of the video or images. The mere fact that the distribution, especially on social networks, takes place without the consent of the person is sufficient, "adds Justine Atlan, director of the e-Childhood association, often confronted with this kind of behavior among young people.
What is the risk of relaying these images or videos on social networks?
"Individuals or media, all those who relay the videos will be prosecuted for these facts," also said Mr. Malka, who recognizes that it will be difficult to trace the source of the case. "In fact, all Internet users who relay these images on social networks commit the same offense, and are therefore guilty in the same way", confirms Eric Morain.
The law therefore provides for punishing with the same penalties all those who disseminate these images, even by a simple republication on social networks. MP Joachim Son-Forget and entrepreneur and doctor Laurent Alexandre, accused of having broadcast the video on Thursday on their Twitter account, therefore risk prosecution, even if they are not the source of the publication of the videos . "We do not prohibit anything on this subject," confirmed Me Malka to 20 Minutes.
What does the law provide abroad?
The practice of porn revenge originated in the United States, where some couples today come to introduce clauses on the use of social networks in their marriage contract. The practice was prohibited by law in several states as early as 2004. Many countries have also strengthened their legislation in recent years to protect victims of "pornography" as the number of cases increases.
The offense of porn revenge is punishable in Italy by a penalty ranging from one to six years' imprisonment, and from 5,000 to 15,000 euros in fines. In 2018, a London court sentenced an ex-financial analyst from the City to 16 weeks in prison for having published on pornographic photos of a trainee who had rejected him. The practice is also punished with two years in prison in Denmark.
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