New act, service aim to protect those whose intimate images shared without their consent

Laur said this legislation will help with local situations of non-consensual images being shared. Image: Daria Nepriakhina / Unsplash.

Victims who have had intimate images shared without their consent can now access new supports to stop the distribution and to take back control of their images.

Along with the new Intimate Images Protection Act, a partnership with the provincial government and the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) has launched the Intimate Images Protection Service. This will help people quickly access resources on how to get intimate images removed and support victims through the Civil Resolution Tribunal or other reporting processes.

As well the service will provide other emotional supports, information and resources.

This new legislation covers intimate images, videos, livestreams and digitally altered images or deepfakes that are sexual, nude or nearly nude.

Brandon Laur is the CEO and an instructor at The White Hatters, an organization that teaches about internet safety and digital literacy. 

Laur said that the White Hatters were brought on to help the province with the new services by giving the province perspectives on the challenges they have seen. They also helped the CRT with the resources and languages for their self-help portal.

One of the challenges the White Hatters started seeing was the use of digitally altered nude or semi-nude images being used to weaponize victims. 

He said that although BC is not the first province to have intimate image protection civil laws in place, the terminology BC uses broadens the definition of what an image is. The broader terminology will allow the legislation to evolve with the times, especially as artificial intelligence or AI becomes the forefront of the creation of fake nude images.

“This is becoming more common, and it's surprisingly simple to do,” Laur said. “So having broad definitions is really important to capture future possible technological challenges.”

Laur mentioned that he has heard some concerns that the wording could be too broad but he thinks the benefits outweigh the concerns.

“I think the spirit of the law is going to be well upheld in the courts, with the intention of keeping people’s sensitive, intimate images safe, secure and protected,” Laur said. “For example, the BC law includes the language of nearly nude as part of the definition of intimate image, which other laws including the federal criminal law, do not acknowledge and will be open to interpretation by the courts to determine what that's going to mean.” 

Laur said this legislation will help with local situations of non-consensual images being shared. 

“Most intimate, naked, nude images that are shared online without consent, it's usually going to be somebody you can point to someone you know, love or trust,” Laur said. “It could be an ex who's jilted, and they want to embarrass you, so they post a naked photo of you online without consent..” 

He said a lot of major social media platforms already have procedures in place to take down non-consensual images off their sites but that does not mean someone could have privately saved the image before it was taken down.

“The challenge is the longer an image is online, the higher likelihood someone will see it, make their own personal copy of it, and then choose to share it at a later date,” Laur said.

With the new legislation, the tribunal can now order a person, social media company or website to stop the distribution and remove intimate images from its platforms.

As well the tribunal can now order someone to pay fines as much as $500 per day for individuals, and as much as $5,000 per day if it’s a website if the order to stop sharing the images is not followed. As well in provincial court, the perpetrators can be ordered to pay significant damages 

Applications to the tribunal can be made without notice and without naming a respondent.

He mentioned that if websites are hosted in countries that do not care to follow the laws in BC, it could be trickier to get the owners to take down the images.

“Someone who scammed you across the world, who convinced you for naked nude image, and now they are weaponizing. Depending on where they live, they may not respect what our laws here are in Canada or British Columbia,” Laur said.

Laur said he thinks it is amazing how the government is approaching this new legislation by not just making a law but also putting in services to support victims.

“Tying into the civil resolution tribunal, to make a quick online application, to have a protection order issued is fantastic. You don't have to go to a traditional court in order to seek damages or get a protection order to have images removed. So that's super accessible, which I think is amazing.” 

He said that the launching of the Intimate Images Protection Service will become the first place someone can go to if they have any intimate images leaked or threatening to be leaked for support and resources.

“They can't give you legal advice, they can't make an online CRT application for you, but they're designed to give residents what are the resources and what might be the best route to take. Because with the CRT, you can get a protection order, you can get a claim for damages,” Laur said. Once a CRT order has been issued, they're also there to help guide you on how you can actually take that order, and then issue it to somebody or to a social network once those orders have been written.”

To access support and resources, or learn how to make a Civil Resolution Tribunal application, go to takebackyourimages.gov.bc.ca.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.