Carol Todd, with a photo of her daughter Amanda Todd, the Port Coquitlam teenager who died by suicide at age 15 in 2012 shortly after she posted online about being tormented by an online predator. (The Canadian Press)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

New recourse

B.C. introduces new legislation to protect against the sharing of intimate images without consent

Mar 6, 2023 | 4:11 PM

VICTORIA — B.C.’s attorney general has proposed a new bill to protect people against the sharing of their intimate images without permission, as police warn of the growing problem of so-called sextortion.

Niki Sharma said the legislation would create new legal rights and remedies people could use to stop the distribution of their intimate images and to seek compensation for the harm it caused.

She tabled the Intimate Images Protection Act before holding a news conference where she spoke about the bill alongside Carol Todd, founder of the Amanda Todd Legacy Society.

Todd said it was an “emotional day” as she spoke at a press conference about the new bill, 13 years after the images of her then 13-year-old daughter Amanda were shared online.

“This happened in 2010, and through the repugnant behaviours of Amanda’s offender, the cyberbullying that followed from Amanda’s peers, Amanda became traumatized, and her mental health quickly deteriorated. She was an innocent person that was victimized. She was intimidated, exploited, cyber abused, and sextorted.”

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Todd said the brunt of these criminal actions has fallen upon innocent victims, many of them being minor children and youth, leaving them feeling abused, manipulated, and not heard.

“The sexual exploitation of children and youth in our society has steadily risen without seemingly no end in sight. Exploitation with the sharing of non-consensual images and videos also affects our younger and older adults. This act will protect all of us.”

If passed, the legislation would fast-track the process for getting a legal decision when an intimate image was recorded or distributed without consent. It will also order people to stop sharing or threatening to share contested material.

The legislation would also provide legal recourse for minors to stop the distribution of their private images, and provide legal avenues for lawsuits. It will also streamline the process of getting images taken off the internet.

The legislation will also be retroactive or available to prosecutors back to the moment she tabled it on Monday.

“That means that people who distribute or threatened to distribute intimate images without consent are on notice that they will face new legal consequences, even if the wrongful conduct happens before the legislation comes into force,” she said.

Incidents like this are often under-reported due to stigma, embarrassment, and the presumption that there is no meaningful recourse to punish those responsible.

Statistics Canada reported an 80 per cent increase sextortion related complaints reported to police across the country in 2020 compared to the previous five years.

“Having your intimate images shared without your permission is a betrayal that can have devastating impacts,” said Sharma. “Victims are often too ashamed to come forward and those who do are met with limited, complex and expensive legal options. We are building a path to justice for people to regain control of their private images and hold perpetrators to account.”

To learn more about the Intimate Images Protection Act, visit gov.bc.ca/ProtectingYourImages.

—with files from The Canadian Press.

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