BASINGSTOKE MP Maria Miller speaks on a change in the law that now means posting an intimate image online without consent is a criminal offence. 

After an eight-year campaign, Maria Miller said that she "welcomes" the step forward with this new change in the law announced by the Government.

She said: "Many groups and individuals have worked hard to support thousands of people who suffer this type of online abuse every year, particularly women who report up to three-quarters of the abusive images taken to the Police." 

Maria also added that making it a crime to post a nude or sexually explicit image of someone online without their consent shows people who abuse others in the online world that their actions will have criminal consequences and they are not above the law.

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She also reflected to an incident from 2014, when she was contacted by a young woman in Basingstoke who had seen the impact on her friend when a nude image was posted online without her consent.

She said this contact from the young girl sparked her involvement in getting a change in the law in 2015 with the first Revenge Pornography laws and now, following a Law Commission Inquiry, has led to the recent announcement.

Maria Miller also said that now more than ever under the new Online Safety Bill, online platforms will have a duty to make sure their organisations are not being used for criminal activity and will have to work to stop postings without consent from happening in the first place, as well as have a ‘takedown‘ process that acts quickly for victims. 

She added: “The new law will mean more victims will come forward and part of the changes I want to see in the online safety bill is to ensure there is funding for victim support from the fines that will be levied by the new online regulator Ofcom."

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Maria Miller has also tabled changes to the Online Safety Bill that reflect the Law Commission recommendations and the Government’s announcement to criminalise posting online intimate images without consent. 

The Basingstoke MP will those amendments when the Bill is before the House of Commons to get clarity from the Government about exactly when and how they will introduce their own changes to the bill and to make sure any changes fully reflect what has been recommended by the Law Commission, including anonymity for victims.