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17 July 2014 / Tim Lawson-Cruttenden
Issue: 7615 / Categories: Opinion
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Policing the internet

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Tim Lawson-Cruttenden examines the legal framework available to protect the victims of revenge pornography

Former culture secretary Maria Miller recently declared that the “existing legal framework does not provide” protection against the posting of revenge pornography on the internet. Ms Miller is not a practising lawyer. This is another example of a senior politician making a forceful statement tainted by inaccuracy.

Revenge pornography is generally posted on the internet by a former and vengeful lover. Difficulties arise when these are transferred, by anonymous individuals onto numerous web sites. This makes actions to remove the material and obtain redress in damages a complex and difficult exercise.

Any person seeking redress for revenge pornography, involving complete removal of intimate material, must consider the respective legal positions of:

  1. Information society service providers (ISSPs) (a defined term) on whose websites this material is published.
  2. Offenders who post tortious or unlawful material on the internet.
  3. Victims who seek redress for, and the removal of, such material.

ISSPs

ISSPs are conditionally exempt from liability for material posted on sites which they facilitate, cache or host (defined terms see EC Directive

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