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Here's a map showing which US states have passed laws against revenge porn - and those where it's still legal

Oct 30, 2019, 19:10 IST

Ruobing Su/Business Insider

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  • On Sunday, Rep. Katie Hill announced that she was resigning from Congress after nude pictures of her and details of alleged affairs with staffers were published online.
  • Rep. Hill has accused publications which published the images of violating revenge porn laws, banning the distribution of sexually explicit images of someone without their permission.
  • Since 2013, 46 states, a US territory and Washington DC have passed anti-revenge porn laws.
  • Hill's case has sparked renewed debate about federal legislation banning revenge porn.

Rep. Katie Hill's resignation Sunday has renewed the debate about so-called revenge porn, or the distribution of sexually explicit images of someone without their consent.

In a resignation statement Sunday, Hill said her decision was prompted by the publication of nude images of her in conservative blog RedState, and the DailyMail.com news website.

Hill's legal team say that the publication of the images violates anti-revenge porn laws, and Hill has vowed after her resignation to campaign against the crime.

Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA) speaks during a news conference on April 9, 2019 in Washington, DC.Zach Gibson/Getty Images)

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After Hill's state of California became the second to pass laws banning revenge porn in 2013, 46 other states and Washington DC have followed suit, according to nonprofit the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative.

Seventeen of these state now classify revenge porn as a misdemeanor offense, meaning it can be punished by up to a year in a county jail.

In 11 states, breaking revenge porn laws can see you convicted of a felony, and punished by being jailed for more than a year.

In others, those who distribute revenge porn can be convicted of either a felony or a misdemeanor depending on the specifics of the crime.

But in four states: Wyoming, Mississippi, South Carolina and Massachussetts, there are still no specific laws against revenge porn.

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Hill's resignation has led to a new push for federal laws to be introduced to counter revenge porn.

"It is likely that the attention that is being paid to the Katie Hill case might push it forward," Mary Anne Franks, a professor at the University of Miami School of Law and president of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, told The Hill.

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