Excerpted from East County Today
The Senate Public Safety Committee today passed important legislation authored by Senator Connie M. Leyva (D-Chino) to establish legal protections for technology users when they receive unsolicited sexually explicit images and videos—known as ‘cyber flashing’.
Specifically, SB 53—also known as the FLASH (Forbid Lewd Activity and Sexual Harassment) Act—would create an infraction, punishable by up to $250 for the first offense and up to $500 for each subsequent offense, for an individual that knowingly transmits lewd or sexually explicit material by electronic means without the expressed consent of the recipient, known as ‘cyber flashing’. The infraction amounts above reflect soon-to-be amended figures in the bill. SB 53 would also create a private right of action against any person who knows or reasonably should know that the lewd image transmitted is unsolicited.
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Legislators in both houses of the Legislature have signed on in support of the FLASH Act, including Senator Lena A. Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) and Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) as principal coauthors and Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters), Senator Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara), Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Laguna Beach), Assemblymember Luz Rivas (D-Arleta) and Senator Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) as coauthors.