Meeting of the Parliament 22 March 2016
I thank John Finnie for his support for my amendments.
I know that the sending of abusive messages is a criminal offence, but the same does not always apply to the sharing of intimate material. My amendments would ensure that the sharing of all types of intimate material without permission would be covered under one bill. As I said during stage 2, the current offence in section 127 of the 2003 act is not an appropriate offence for dealing with that type of behaviour, as it sets a very high threshold because the content of the message or other matter must be
“grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character”.
Furthermore, as John Finnie pointed out, the offence can be tried only under summary procedure rather than solemn procedure and, as such, offers less protection to victims who have had intimate audio or text conversation shared about them, if they can even get a conviction.
With advances in technology making it easier to distribute information, with or without consent, it is vital that the law keeps up, to ensure that those who wish to cause harm are dealt with appropriately and consistently by the justice system. I am not looking to criminalise the process of sexting, nor do I wish under-16s who may have shared content of a sexual nature accidentally, or without thinking through the consequences, to be criminalised. In such cases, common sense should be applied. Of course, we should be educating under-16s regarding the dangers of using private communications without consent. I believe that cases that relate to under-16s would be dealt with by the children’s panel. Tam Baillie, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner in Scotland, said in evidence that children should not be exempt, but he also said that there should be a robust education programme for the legislation.
At stage 2 and again today, the cabinet secretary used the example of two teenagers fantasising about having sex with a celebrity. That is not what my amendments are about—they are about the situation in which a relationship has broken down and one of the partners threatens to distribute or distributes intimate photographs, film or audio communication to cause harm to their ex-partner.