§ 3131 — Unlawful dissemination of intimate image

Pennsylvania § 3131

• Jurisdiction: Pennsylvania
• Title 18: CRIMES AND OFFENSES
• Part: PART II
• Ch. 31: SEXUAL OFFENSES
• Subch.: DEFINITION OF OFFENSES

Text

(a) Offense defined.--Except as provided in sections 5903 (relating to obscene and other sexual materials and performances), 6312 (relating to sexual abuse of children) and 6321 (relating to transmission of sexually explicit images by minor), a person commits the offense of unlawful dissemination of intimate image if, with intent to harass, annoy or alarm another, the person disseminates:

(1) A visual depiction of the current or former sexual or intimate partner in a state of nudity or engaged in sexual conduct.

(2) An artificially generated sexual depiction of an individual.

(b) Defense.--It is a defense to a prosecution under this section that the actor disseminated the visual depiction with the consent of the person depicted.

(c) Grading.--

(1) An offense under subsection (a)(1) shall be:

(i) A misdemeanor of the first degree, when the person depicted is a minor.

(ii) A misdemeanor of the second degree, when the person depicted is not a minor.

(2) An offense under subsection (a)(2) shall be:

(i) A misdemeanor of the first degree, when the person depicted is a minor.

(ii) A misdemeanor of the second degree, when the person depicted is not a minor.

(d) Territorial applicability.--A person may be convicted under the provisions of this section if the victim or the offender is located within this Commonwealth.

(e) Nonapplicability.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to a law enforcement officer engaged in the performance of the law enforcement officer's official duties.

(f) Concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute.--In addition to the authority conferred upon the Attorney General by the act of October 15, 1980 (P.L.950, No.164), known as the Commonwealth Attorneys Act, the Attorney General shall have the authority to investigate and to institute criminal proceedings for any violation of this section or any series of violations involving more than one county of this Commonwealth or another state. No person charged with a violation of this section by the Attorney General shall have standing to challenge the authority of the Attorney General to investigate or prosecute the case, and, if a challenge is made, the challenge shall be dismissed, and no relief shall be made available in the courts of this Commonwealth to the person making the challenge.

(g) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Artificial intelligence."

(1) A machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations or decisions influencing real or virtual environments, including the ability to:

(i) perceive real and virtual environments;

(ii) abstract perceptions made under this paragraph into models through analysis in an automated manner; and

(iii) use model inference to formulate options for information or action based on outcomes under subparagraphs (i) and (ii).

(2) The term includes generative artificial intelligence.

"Artificially generated sexual depiction."A visual depiction:

(1) that appears to authentically depict an individual in a state of nudity or engaged in sexual conduct that did not occur in reality; and

(2) the production of which was substantially dependent upon technical means, including artificial intelligence or photo editing software, rather than the ability of another person to physically impersonate the other person.

"Generative artificial intelligence."The class of models that emulate the structure and characteristics of input data in order to generate derived synthetic content, including information such as images, videos, audio clips or text, that has been significantly modified or generated by algorithms, including by artificial intelligence.

"Law enforcement officer."Any officer of the United States, of the Commonwealth or political subdivision thereof, or of another state or subdivision thereof, who is empowered to conduct investigations of or to make arrests for offenses enumerated in this title or an equivalent crime in another jurisdiction, and any attorney authorized by law to prosecute or participate in the prosecution of such offense.

"Minor."An individual under 18 years of age.

"Nudity."As defined in section 5903(e).

"Photo editing software."A software used primarily for editing photographs, videos or computer depictions that contains a variety of filters, effects or tools that can be used to manipulate photographs, videos or computer depictions.

"Sexual conduct."As defined in section 5903(e).

"Visual depiction."As defined in section 6321.

Legislative History

(July 9, 2014, P.L.1013, No.115, eff. 60 days; Oct. 29, 2024, P.L.1095, No.125, eff. 60 days) 2024 Amendment.Act 125 amended subsecs. (a) and (c) and added the defs. of "artificial intelligence," "artificially generated sexual depiction," "generative artificial intelligence" and "photo editing software" in subsec. (g). 2014 Amendment.Act 115 added section 3131. Cross References.Section 3131 is referred to in sections 6312, 6321 of this title; section 8316.1 of Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure).