Revenge Porn: What Do You Do When Your Personal Pictures Have Been Leaked?

Revenge porn put simply is the distribution of sexually explicit images or videos of an individual without his/her consent by the perpetrator as a form of vengeance when the relationship turns sour.

So, if you do unfortunately come across a situation where lewd images/videos of yourself are now circulating on the Internet, firstly, take a deep breath and know that the world is not over.

Once you do that, you would want to block the profile, post, site, page or group that is circulating such images/videos immediately. You should then proceed to lodge a report to the MCMC (https://www.mcmc.gov.my/en/make-a-complaint/make-a-complaint) who will work on blocking the images/videos from being accessed further by the public.

Of course, when you are faced with such a predicament, your immediate next step would be to take legal action against the wrongdoer. Now, there are two routes by which you can initiate legal proceedings, the civil route and the criminal one.

In Malaysia, revenge porn can give rise to a claim brought under civil law for invasion of privacy. In Maslinda Ishak v. Mohd Tahir Osman & Ors [2009] 6 CLJ 653, the Plaintiff (a GRO) who had been caught in a raid conducted by JAWI (Federal Territories Islamic Affairs Department) at a club in 2003 was photographed without her knowledge by RELA (People's Volunteer Corps) personnel , while she was easing herself in a truck. The Plaintiff filed a claim against RELA employees, the RELA director-general and the government. The court ruled in her favour and granted her damages.

Further, a civil action in this context could possibly mean applying for an injunction to prevent the perpetrator from further distributing and circulating the photographs.

In a criminal law context, it is best to lodge a police report immediately. The wrongdoer could be charged under Section 292 of the Malaysian Penal Code which provides for:

Whoever-

(a) sells, lets to hire, distributes, publicly exhibits or in any manner puts into circulation, or for purposes of sale, hire, distribution, public exhibition or circulation makes, produces or has in his possession any obscene book, pamphlet, paper, drawing, painting, representation or figure or any other obscene object or document whatsoever;

shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine or with both.

In addition to this, the perpetrator who was responsible for the distribution of such videos/images, which would now constitute as pornographic and/or obscene content, could also be charged additionally under Section 211(1) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. This section provides that:

“No content applications service provider, or other person using a content applications service, shall provide content which is indecent, obscene, false, menacing, or offensive in character with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any person…”

If found guilty under this section, the wrongdoer shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both and shall also be liable to a further fine of one thousand ringgit for every day or part of a day during which the offence is continued after conviction.

Now that we have covered our bases on that, what happens if your explicit images/videos have NOT been distributed yet, but someone is threatening to do so?

Well, if your images/videos haven't been leaked yet and the perpetrator is threatening to release it in exchange for money and/or sexual relations, here is how the law could help.

Section 509 of the Penal Code states that:

“Whoever, intending to insult the modesty of any person, utters any word, makes any sound or gesture, or exhibits any object, intending that such word or sound shall be heard, or that such gesture or object shall be seen by such person, or intrudes upon the privacy of such person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years or with fine or with both.”

This means that if the perpetrator even intends to leak your pictures/videos, they would also be in violation of Section 509 of the Penal Code. Further, if he threatens you for money and/or sexual relations in return of those pictures/videos, he could also be charged under Section 383 of the Penal Code for extortion. The Section provides that:

“Whoever intentionally puts any person in fear of any injury to that person or to any other, and thereby dishonestly induces the person so put in fear to deliver to any person any property or valuable security, or anything signed or sealed which may be converted into a valuable security, commits extortion.”

The following Section 384 of the Penal Code provides for the punishment of extortion which is imprisonment up to ten years or fined or whipped or any of the two punishments if the perpetrator is found guilty.

Although we have discussed how the law deals with the perpetrators, it does not mean that you yourself are off the hook. While it is agreed that betraying your trust and extortion are wrongful actions, your own act of sending explicit images/videos or even posting such images on social media platforms is unlawful as well under Section 292 of the Penal Code.

In addition to that, the MCMC can also hold you liable under Section 233(1) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 which provides that those who utilise the Internet to produce or give out…

“…any comment, request, suggestion or other communication which is obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person…commits an offence."

And that if found guilty, you shall on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both and shall also be liable to a further fine of one thousand ringgit for every day during which the offence is continued after conviction.

So, that is definitely food for thought the next time you think of posting a racy picture on Instagram or sending one to a partner. However, while we urge you to strongly adhere to these laws, it should not discourage you from bringing an action against your perpetrator.

As we have discussed above, there are a range of options for legal actionability against wrongdoers that would bring justice to the victims of revenge pornography. Victim blaming is never acceptable and the best thing you can do for yourself and others is to take action and be vigilant.

At the end of the day, in the age where sexting is rampant, it is arduous to stop people from sharing intimate pictures/videos with their partners or to the Internet. So, remember before you hit that send button, what goes on the Internet, stays on the Internet.