INTERNET users who share seedy materials online will face years in prison and a fine costing thousands under a new law.

A bill defining “visual representation” went into effect on July 1.

The new legislation in Maryland strengthens an already-existing rule that protects victims of revenge porn.

People targeted in revenge porn are now allowed to take civil action against the criminals responsible for the sick act.

Revenge porn is when someone shares an image or video with a “visual representation” of someone else naked or engaged in a sexual act with the intent to harm the other person.

Now, the new law says the “visual representation” includes computer-generated images that could pass as the real person.

Knowingly spreading nonconsensual images, including deepfakes, will now be just as punishable as sharing the real thing.

The bill also allows victims to sue offenders for civil damages, including attorney’s fees, over the violation.

Victims can sue the person who sent out the gross materials for defamation or invasion of privacy.

Anyone who breaks the law is guilty of a misdemeanor, which is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and up to two years of jail time.

The criminal penalties were already put into place, but the civil remedies now provide a way for victims to hold creeps accountable.

“SB 360 amends the criminal law and permits prosecution for distribution of these images whether they are actual images, computer-generated images, or a combination of the two,” the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault said, according to the Southern Maryland Chronicle.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Katie Fry Hester, passed unanimously in the Senate in March and in the House the next month.

Maryland’s revenge porn laws were originally put into place in 2014.

Every state in America has a law against revenge porn.

TAKE IT DOWN ACT

In May, President Donald Trump signed the TAKE IT DOWN Act, requiring platforms to take down nonconsensual images, including AI-generated deepfakes.

Under the law, social media platforms are required to remove revenge porn within 48 hours of the survivor’s request.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz first introduced the act in June 2024.

“No one should have to experience the pain, humiliation, and trauma that so many Americans have at the hands of AI deepfakes,” Cruz said back in March when Melania Trump showed her support for the bill.

Cruz’s proposal came after high school students in Texas sexually harassed a 15-year-old student named Elliston Berry by sharing AI deepfakes of her where she was manipulated to appear naked.

“It should not take a sitting senator getting on the phone to take these down,” Cruz said in June 2024, according to KDFW.

“If Elliston were Taylor Swift, they would be pulled down and should be. But they also should be pulled down for every teenager in Texas.

“You should have the same right. And that demonstrates that Snapchat knows exactly how to pull it down.”