New York’s “revenge porn” law, Penal Law §245.15 (“Section 245.15”), criminalizes the intentional, nonconsensual dissemination or publication of a sexually explicit intimate image of another with intent to harm the emotional, financial or physical welfare of that other person. When signed into law by then-Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2019, Section 245.15 was hailed as a milestone, intended to address a growing phenomenon where individuals maliciously sought to “punish” ex-lovers and others by sharing intimate pictures and videos of them on porn sites and elsewhere.

Simultaneously, the Legislature enacted Civil Rights Law §52-b, which created a private right of action for nonconsensual dissemination and publication of intimate images—as well as for threatening such dissemination or publication. A recent New York Criminal Court decision from Kings County focused on the scope of liability under Section 245.15, and simultaneously thrust into the spotlight the question whether threatening nonconsensual dissemination of an individual’s intimate images should be criminalized under state law.