[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8387 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8387

 To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the disclosure of 
                intimate images, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 14, 2024

   Ms. Mace introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the disclosure of 
                intimate images, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Victimizer Accountability for 
Nonconsensual Images and Spiteful Humiliation Act'' or the ``VANISH 
Act''.

SEC. 2. VISUAL DEPICTION PRIVACY.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 88 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 1802. Prohibition of disclosure of intimate images
    ``(a) Offense.--Except as provided in subsection (b), whoever--
            ``(1) recklessly discloses, in or affecting interstate or 
        foreign commerce or using any means, channel, facility, or 
        instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce, an intimate 
        visual depiction of an individual, without the consent of the 
        individual;
            ``(2) knowingly threatens to commit an offense described in 
        paragraph (1); or
            ``(3) conspires to commit an offense described in paragraph 
        (1),
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or 
both.
    ``(b) Consent.--For purposes of subsection (a)--
            ``(1) the fact that the depicted individual consented to 
        the creation of the intimate visual depiction shall not 
        establish that the person consented to its disclosure;
            ``(2) the fact that the depicted individual is a public 
        figure shall not establish that the depicted individual 
        consented to the disclosure of the intimate visual depiction; 
        and
            ``(3) the fact that the depicted individual disclosed the 
        intimate visual depiction to someone else shall not establish 
        that the depicted individual consented to the further 
        disclosure of the intimate visual depiction by the person 
        alleged to have violated subsection (a).
    ``(c) Exceptions.--
            ``(1) In general.--This section shall not apply with 
        respect to--
                    ``(A) an intimate visual depiction that is 
                commercial pornographic content, unless that content 
                was produced by force, fraud, misrepresentation, or 
                coercion of the depicted individual;
                    ``(B) a disclosure made in good faith--
                            ``(i) to a law enforcement officer or 
                        agency;
                            ``(ii) as part of a legal proceeding;
                            ``(iii) as part of medical education, 
                        diagnosis, or treatment; or
                            ``(iv) in the reporting or investigation 
                        of--
                                    ``(I) unlawful content; or
                                    ``(II) unsolicited or unwelcome 
                                conduct;
                    ``(C) matter of public concern or public interest; 
                or
                    ``(D) a disclosure reasonably intended to assist 
                the identifiable individual.
            ``(2) Service providers.--This section shall not apply to 
        any provider of a communications service with regard to content 
        provided by another information content provider unless the 
        provider of the communications service intentionally solicits, 
        or knowingly and predominantly distributes, content that the 
        provider of the communications service knows is in violation of 
        this section.
            ``(3) Clarification.--The fact that an intimate visual 
        depiction depicts a public figure does not constitute an 
        exception under paragraph (1)(C).
    ``(d) Extraterritoriality.--There is extraterritorial Federal 
jurisdiction over an offense under this section if the alleged offender 
or the depicted individual is a national of the United States (as such 
term is defined in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1101)).
    ``(e) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `consent' means an affirmative, conscious, 
        competent, and voluntary authorization made by the individual 
        free from force, fraud, misrepresentation, or coercion.
            ``(2) The term `depicted individual' means an individual 
        whose body appears in whole or in part in an intimate visual 
        depiction and who is identifiable by virtue of the person's 
        face, likeness, or other distinguishing characteristic, such as 
        a unique birthmark or other recognizable feature, or from 
        information displayed in connection with the visual depiction.
            ``(3) The term `disclose' means to transfer, publish, 
        distribute, or make accessible.
            ``(4) The term `intimate visual depiction'--
                    ``(A) means a visual depiction, as that term is 
                defined in section 2256(5), that depicts--
                            ``(i) the uncovered genitals, pubic area, 
                        anus, or female nipple of an identifiable 
                        individual; or
                            ``(ii) the display or transfer of bodily 
                        sexual fluids--
                                    ``(I) on to any part of the body of 
                                an identifiable individual; or
                                    ``(II) from the body of an 
                                identifiable individual; or
                            ``(iii) an identifiable individual engaging 
                        in sexually explicit conduct; and
                    ``(B) includes any visual depictions described in 
                subparagraph (A) produced while the identifiable 
                individual was in a public place only if the individual 
                did not--
                            ``(i) voluntarily display the content 
                        depicted; or
                            ``(ii) consent to the sexual conduct 
                        depicted.
            ``(5) The term `sexually explicit conduct' has the meaning 
        given the term in subparagraph (A) of section 2256(2).
            ``(6) The term `communications service' means--
                    ``(A) a service provided by a person that is a 
                common carrier, as that term is defined in section 3 of 
                the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153), insofar 
                as the person is acting as a common carrier;
                    ``(B) an electronic communication service, as that 
                term is defined in section 2510;
                    ``(C) an information service, as that term is 
                defined in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 
                (47 U.S.C. 153); and
                    ``(D) an interactive computer service, as that term 
                is defined in section 230(f) of the Communications Act 
                of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f)).
            ``(7) The term `information content provider' has the 
        meaning given such term i section 230(f) fo the Communications 
        Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f)).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 88 of 
title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``1802. Prohibition of disclosure of intimate images.''.
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