Georgia’s revenge porn law, codified at O.C.G.A. 16-11-90, makes it a crime to electronically share nude or sexually explicit images of someone without their consent. Depending on where the content was posted and whether the person has prior convictions, the offense ranges from a high-and-aggravated misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a $5,000 fine to a felony carrying one to five years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.1Justia. Georgia Code 16-11-90 – Prohibition on Nude or Sexually Explicit Electronic Transmissions
What the Law Makes Illegal
The statute targets electronic distribution: social media posts, text messages, emails, file-sharing sites, and website uploads. Printed photos passed around physically fall outside this particular law, though other Georgia statutes may reach that conduct.1Justia. Georgia Code 16-11-90 – Prohibition on Nude or Sexually Explicit Electronic Transmissions
Consent to the original photo is not consent to its distribution. Sending an intimate image to a partner during a relationship does not give that partner permission to post it later. The depicted person has to agree to the sharing itself, and if they didn’t, the transmission can be prosecuted.
Deepfakes and AI-generated content are covered too. The statute explicitly reaches “falsely created videographic or still images,” so a fabricated image showing someone in a sexual scenario carries the same consequences as sharing a real photo.1Justia. Georgia Code 16-11-90 – Prohibition on Nude or Sexually Explicit Electronic Transmissions And the person who presses “send” isn’t the only one on the hook: if someone directs another person to post the material on their behalf, they face the same liability.
For a prosecution to go forward, the transmission must either amount to harassment of the depicted person (conduct intended to cause substantial emotional harm) or cause them financial loss, such as the loss of a job.1Justia. Georgia Code 16-11-90 – Prohibition on Nude or Sexually Explicit Electronic Transmissions
Penalties
Georgia’s penalty structure turns on two things: where the content was shared, and whether the defendant has a prior conviction under the same statute.
Posting to a site or platform that advertises itself as showing sexually explicit material (pornography sites, sexually explicit message boards) is a felony on the first conviction, with one to five years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.1Justia. Georgia Code 16-11-90 – Prohibition on Nude or Sexually Explicit Electronic Transmissions A second conviction of that type raises the floor to two years.
Sharing through any other channel, such as a text message, mainstream social media post, or email, is a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature on a first offense. That classification carries up to 12 months in county jail and a fine of up to $5,000.2Justia. Georgia Code 17-10-4 – Punishment for Misdemeanors of a High and Aggravated Nature A second conviction, however, becomes a felony carrying the same one-to-five-year sentence and $100,000 fine as the pornography-site tier.1Justia. Georgia Code 16-11-90 – Prohibition on Nude or Sexually Explicit Electronic Transmissions
- First offense, mainstream platform: misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature. Up to 12 months in jail; fine up to $5,000.
- First offense, pornographic platform: felony. One to five years in prison; fine up to $100,000.
- Second offense, mainstream platform: felony. One to five years in prison; fine up to $100,000.
- Second offense, pornographic platform: felony. Two to five years in prison; fine up to $100,000.
When the Law Doesn’t Apply
The statute carves out six situations where sharing is not criminal, even without consent:1Justia. Georgia Code 16-11-90 – Prohibition on Nude or Sexually Explicit Electronic Transmissions
- Law enforcement and prosecutors sharing images as part of a criminal investigation or case.
- Legitimate medical, scientific, or educational use.
- Images that depict only the person doing the sharing.
- Content originally produced for commercial purposes.
- Images where the person was voluntarily nude or engaged in sexually explicit conduct in a public setting.
- Transmissions made in connection with or in anticipation of a civil lawsuit.
Reporting to the Police
If someone has shared intimate images of you, the first step is filing a report with local law enforcement. Before you go to the station, preserve evidence. Take screenshots of the posts that capture timestamps and usernames, save the URLs where the content appears, and collect the offender’s profile or account information along with any related texts or emails.
Bringing a printed copy of O.C.G.A. 16-11-90 can help. Smaller departments and officers outside specialized units aren’t always familiar with the statute’s current form, including the deepfake coverage and the platform-based penalty split.
An attorney who handles digital privacy or harassment cases can take it from there. Jurisdictional questions sometimes come up when the offender lives in another county or state, and a formal complaint drafted with the right statutory references tends to get prosecutors’ attention.
Getting the Images Taken Down
Prosecution is slow. The images are usually still live in the meantime, so takedown work happens on a parallel track.
Report to the Platform First
Facebook, Instagram, X, Reddit, Pornhub, and other major platforms have dedicated reporting channels for non-consensual intimate images. These reports are typically prioritized, with takedowns in hours to a few days. Start there before escalating.
Send a DMCA Takedown Notice
If you took the photo or video yourself, you own the copyright from the moment of capture, with no registration required.3U.S. Copyright Office. What Photographers Should Know About Copyright That gives you the right to send a DMCA takedown notice to any site hosting the content and to the search engines indexing it.
A valid notice includes your name and contact information, links identifying the specific images, a statement that you own the copyright and did not authorize the use, a good-faith declaration, a removal request, and a sworn statement under penalty of perjury that the information is accurate. Send it to the site’s designated copyright agent, usually listed in its terms of service or copyright policy; the U.S. Copyright Office keeps a directory if the site doesn’t name one. Send separate requests to Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Even when the host is slow, pulling the content from search results sharply cuts its visibility.
Use StopNCII.org
StopNCII.org creates a digital fingerprint, or hash, of an intimate image on your own device without uploading the photo itself. Participating platforms then use that hash to detect and block the image across their networks. The actual image never leaves your device.
Suing for Damages in Federal Court
Beyond the Georgia criminal case, victims can file a civil lawsuit in federal court under 15 U.S.C. § 6851, added by the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization in 2022.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 6851 – Civil Action Relating to Disclosure of Intimate Images The Georgia criminal statute doesn’t pay victims anything; the federal civil remedy does.
You can recover either your actual damages or liquidated damages of $150,000, whichever is greater. The court can award attorney’s fees and litigation costs, order the defendant to stop distributing the images, and allow you to proceed under a pseudonym to protect your identity.
The civil case is independent of any criminal prosecution. You don’t have to wait for a conviction, and the civil standard of proof (preponderance of the evidence) is lower than the criminal standard, making it easier to win.
Support Resources
The Georgia Network to End Sexual Assault (GNESA) provides statewide victim advocacy and support services. The Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence (GCADV) offers counseling, legal guidance, and policy advocacy, which matters because non-consensual image sharing often overlaps with abusive relationships.5Sexual Offender Risk Review Board. Victims’ Resources
The Cyber Civil Rights Initiative runs a crisis helpline at 844-878-2274 and refers victims to attorneys who handle these cases, often on reduced-fee or pro bono terms.