Navy and Marine Corps outlaw nude photo sharing without consent

The Marine Corps has taken another step to crack down on the nude photo sharing scandal that broke open in the Marines United Facebook Group. Following changes to the rules governing behavior on social media platforms, new Navy regulations outlaw sharing nude photos without permission outright.

The new amendment to Naval regulations (which also apply to Marines) reads as follows:

Article 1168 of reference (a) is added to read as follows:
a. 1168. Nonconsensual distribution or broadcasting of an image
(1) The wrongful distribution or broadcasting of an intimate image is
prohibited.
(2) The distribution or broadcasting is wrongful if the person making
the distribution or broadcast does so without legal justification or excuse,
knows or reasonably should know that the depicted person did not consent to
the disclosure, and the intimate image is distributed or broadcast:
(a) With the intent to realize personal gain;
(b) With the intent to humiliate, harm, harass, intimidate,
threaten, or coerce the depicted person; or
(c) With reckless disregard as to whether the depicted person
would be humiliated, harmed, intimidated, threatened, or coerced.

The amendment defines an “intimate image” as a photo in which an individual can be identified depicting sexually explicit conduct or an individual’s “private areas” if the person shown in the image had a reasonable expectation of privacy.

The change is described as an interim measure that is already in effect and will be incorporated in the next physical printing of the U.S. Navy regulations. Earlier this month, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) announced that 14 active duty Marines and one active duty sailor areĀ under criminal investigation for their involvement in the nude photo sharing ring.