State Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield)
State Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield)
The act of online harassment is now a criminal offense in Illinois.
Sponsored by state Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield) and state Rep. Avery Bourne (R-Raymond), House Bill 2408 officially makes it a crime to post “private, compromising images” of someone online and creates a legal avenue where they can seek damages based on violations in an amount to be determined by the court.
Signed off on by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in late August, the law is slated to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.
“Unfortunately, in this age, nude images are taken and posted online without a person’s consent,” McClure said in a press release. “This new law allows a victim to obtain an emergency take-down order to remove the images from websites.”
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