Beacon Hill Democrats struck a deal on a policy that would outlaw the circulation of explicit photos of someone without their permission, a move that, if approved, would bring Massachusetts in line with almost every other state.
Legislators delivered a compromise bill they argued ensures teenagers are aware of the “dire consequences” of sharing explicit images and providers survivors of so-called revenge porn, deep fakes, and malicious blackmail specific legal protections and recourse for crimes committed against them.
“Finally, we propose to codify the reality that, for so many survivors, coercive and abusive control is a form of domestic violence that can be as insidious and harmful as acts of physical violence and should be treated that way under the law,” said Sen. John Keenan and Rep. Michael Day, the two Democratic top negotiators who hammered out a deal.
But the final agreement that is expected to receive final votes in both branches this week backs off from a Senate-approved push to include the definition of “coercive control” — or non-physical forms of abuse by a family or household member — in multiple portions of state law.
Both the House and Senate previously supported adding the definition of “coercive control” to state laws covering abuse prevention, a move that supporters said allows victims to qualify for an abuse prevention order. That language made it into the agreement released Tuesday.
But senators wanted to go further in a version they passed earlier this year, also adding the definition of “coercive control” to state laws surrounding harassment prevention orders. Top Democrats in the branch pitched the idea as a way to broaden the impact of defining “coercive control” in state law.
Although that effort was left on the cutting room floor, Keenan said concerns that initially prompted the Senate to push to expand “coercive control” into laws on harassment prevention orders were addressed in existing statutes.
“I think it’s a better bill at this stage. It was a great House bill, great Senate bill. And I think working together, we’re producing a better bill,” the Quincy Democrat said.
The legislation charges the Attorney General’s Office with developing and implementing an educational diversion program for teenagers on the consequences of sexting and posting explicit images or videos online.
A child who violates laws banning the possession or dissemination of explicit visual materials would be diverted from the criminal justice system to the education program.
State lawmakers also agreed to tackle sexually explicit deep fakes, or computer-generated images of people shared without their consent, an issue that has drawn national attention in recent years.
All six negotiators — four Democrats and two Republicans — signed onto the agreement.
“I think this is a good example of when two chambers are motivated to get a substantive piece of legislation across the finish line, the conference committee works a lot quicker and is empowered to get that done,” Day, a Stoneham Democrat, said after walking out of the House Clerk’s Office.
Versions of the proposal have long danced around at the State House, with former Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, filing reforms on the matter at least as far back as 2017.
Democrats in the House and Senate have not yet managed to push a bill across the finish line. Both chambers approved versions last session but could not put something in front of Baker — who made the topic a priority — before his time in office ended.
In coming to an agreement in early June, lawmakers removed from their plate one of several high-priority items from their plate just as more were expected to be added in the coming weeks.