STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
318--A
Cal. No. 262
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CRUZ, ZACCARO, WEPRIN -- read once and referred
to the Committee on Codes -- recommitted to the Committee on Codes in
accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- reported from committee,
advanced to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining
its place on the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the penal law and the civil rights law, in relation to
prohibiting speech-based defenses to actions brought against an indi-
vidual for the unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate
image
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 245.15 of the penal law is amended by adding a new
2 subdivision 5 to read as follows:
3 5. It shall not be a defense to any criminal action brought against an
4 individual pursuant to this section that such dissemination or publica-
5 tion of an intimate image is protected by a right to free speech, where
6 the prosecution has established beyond a reasonable doubt that, at the
7 time of dissemination, the defendant knew or should have known that the
8 subject of the image had a reasonable expectation of privacy and did not
9 consent to the release of such image.
10 § 2. Section 52-b of the civil rights law is amended by adding a new
11 subdivision 6-a to read as follows:
12 6-a. It shall not be a defense to any civil action brought against an
13 individual pursuant to this section that such dissemination or publica-
14 tion of an intimate image is protected by a right to free speech, where
15 the plaintiff has established by a preponderance of the evidence that,
16 at the time of dissemination, the defendant knew or should have known
17 that the subject of the image had a reasonable expectation of privacy
18 and did not consent to the release of such image.
19 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01205-02-6
