Blog #9: Privacy

The 4th Amendment is all about privacy; it's about protecting our right to ourselves. Unfortunately, privacy looks so much different than what it used to look like. This right to privacy used to be more centered on issues like illegal searches and seizures and abortion. Although these issues are still important, there are newer issues on the horizon. They deal with the internet and social media. Since the internet and social media applications are still so new, there aren't as many laws or specific protections against privacy violations online. 

One big example where online privacy and laws are such a big deal is with revenge porn. According to Merriam-Webster, revenge porn is "sexually explicit images of a person posted online without that person's consent especially as a form of revenge or harassment." Revenge porn goes by many names but it is, no doubt, a form of cyber bullying or as Darieth Chisolm calls it in her Ted Talk, "digital domestic violence." She was a TV host and a News Anchor and is now a successful Life and Business Coach. 

Chisolm was a victim of digital domestic violence herself. One day, she got a call from her ex husband asking why he was sent a link to a website containing nude photos of her that were taken while she was sleeping. The website was put up by her Jamaican ex-boyfriend. In her Ted Talk, she describes all the thoughts that went through her head when she heard those words. Her entire life changed immediately. It took months for her photos and that website to be taken down and in 2019, won her revenge porn lawsuit against her ex-boyfriend two years since she became aware of the website. 

According to Chisolm, there are very few state laws and almost zero federal laws that specifically address and punish those who participate in revenge porn. This is heartbreaking to hear since the consequences for those affected by revenge porn are so severe. Many women lose their jobs, relationships are greatly impacted, and it is extremely degrading and harmful to one's mental state. I can't even begin to imagine how I would feel in her situation. The situation becomes even harder since it doesn't just happen for five minutes; it can last years or even a lifetime because it is so difficult to get images taken down permanently from the internet. There needs to be stronger laws enforcing and punishing those who are involved in perpetrating revenge porn. We need to protect each other's privacy sooner rather than later.