Florida Senate - 2025 CS for SB 1084
By the Committee on Criminal Justice; and Senator Martin
591-02564-25 20251084c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to sexual cyberharassment; amending s.
3 784.049, F.S.; providing and revising legislative
4 findings and definitions; providing criminal penalties
5 for persons who sexually cyberharass other persons
6 with specified intent or purpose; providing criminal
7 penalties for persons who commit the offense of sexual
8 cyberharassment with a specified intent or purpose;
9 providing enhanced criminal penalties for second or
10 subsequent violations; authorizing an aggrieved person
11 to initiate a civil action to recover punitive
12 damages; making technical changes; amending s. 775.15,
13 F.S.; providing time limitations for commencing
14 prosecution for violations of sexual cyberharassment;
15 providing an effective date.
16
17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19 Section 1. Present paragraphs (d), (e), and (f) of
20 subsection (1) of section 784.049, Florida Statutes, are
21 redesignated as paragraphs (e), (f), and (g), respectively,
22 present subsections (4) through (7) are redesignated as
23 subsections (5) through (8), respectively, a new paragraph (d)
24 is added to subsection (1) and a new subsection (4) is added to
25 that section, and paragraph (a) of subsection (1), subsections
26 (2) and (3), and present subsection (5) of that section are
27 amended, to read:
28 784.049 Sexual cyberharassment.—
29 (1) The Legislature finds that:
30 (a) A person depicted in a sexually explicit image taken
31 with the person’s consent retains may retain a reasonable
32 expectation that the image will remain private despite sharing
33 the image with another person, such as an intimate partner.
34 (d) A person depicted in a digitally forged intimate image
35 created by or with the consent of the depicted person retains a
36 reasonable expectation of privacy despite sharing the image with
37 another person.
38 (2) As used in this section, the term:
39 (a) “Digitally forged intimate image” means an image that
40 has been created, altered, adopted, or modified by electronic,
41 mechanical, or other computer-generated means; depicts nudity of
42 an identifiable individual as defined in s. 847.001; and appears
43 to a reasonable person to be indistinguishable from an authentic
44 visual depiction of the individual, regardless of whether the
45 visual depiction indicates, through a label or some other form
46 of information published with the visual depiction, that the
47 visual depiction is not authentic.
48 (b) “Image” includes, but is not limited to, any
49 photograph, picture, motion picture, film, video, or
50 representation.
51 (c) “Nudity” means the showing of the human male or female
52 genitals, pubic area, or buttocks with less than a fully opaque
53 covering; the showing of the female breast with less than a
54 fully opaque covering of any portion thereof below the top of
55 the nipple; or the depiction of covered male genitals in a
56 discernibly turgid state. A mother’s breastfeeding of her baby
57 does not, under any circumstance, constitute nudity, regardless
58 of whether the nipple is covered during or incidental to
59 feeding.
60 (d)(b) “Personal identification information” means any
61 information that identifies an individual, and includes, but is
62 not limited to, any name, postal or electronic mail address,
63 telephone number, social security number, date of birth, or any
64 unique physical representation.
65 (e)(c) “Sexually cyberharass” means to publish to an
66 Internet website or disseminate through electronic means to
67 another person a sexually explicit image of a person that
68 contains or conveys the personal identification information of
69 the depicted person without the depicted person’s consent,
70 contrary to the depicted person’s reasonable expectation that
71 the image would remain private, for no legitimate purpose, with
72 the intent of causing substantial emotional distress to the
73 depicted person. Evidence that the depicted person sent a
74 sexually explicit image to another person does not, on its own,
75 remove his or her reasonable expectation of privacy for that
76 image. Absent affirmative consent to disseminate, the depicted
77 person retains his or her reasonable expectation of privacy.
78 (f)(d) “Sexually explicit image” means a digitally forged
79 intimate image or an any image depicting nudity, as defined in
80 s. 847.001, or depicting a person engaging in sexual conduct, as
81 defined in s. 847.001.
82 (3)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), a person who
83 willfully and maliciously sexually cyberharasses another person
84 commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as
85 provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
86 (b) Upon a second or subsequent a person who has one prior
87 conviction for a violation of paragraph (a), a person sexual
88 cyberharassment and who commits a second or subsequent sexual
89 cyberharassment commits a felony of the third degree, punishable
90 as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
91 (4)(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), a person who
92 violates paragraph (3)(a) with the intent to cause physical,
93 mental, economic, or reputational harm to an individual
94 portrayed in the image, or for the purpose of profit or
95 pecuniary gain, commits a felony of the third degree, punishable
96 as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
97 (b) Upon a second or subsequent conviction for a violation
98 of paragraph (a), a person commits a felony of the second
99 degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, or s. 775.083, or
100 s. 775.084.
101 (6)(5) An aggrieved person may initiate a civil action
102 against a person who violates this section to obtain all
103 appropriate relief in order to prevent or remedy a violation of
104 this section, including all of the following:
105 (a) Injunctive relief.
106 (b) Monetary damages to include $10,000 or actual damages
107 incurred as a result of a violation of this section, whichever
108 is greater.
109 (c) Punitive damages.
110 (d)(c) Reasonable attorney fees and costs.
111 Section 2. Subsection (22) is added to section 775.15,
112 Florida Statutes, to read:
113 775.15 Time limitations; general time limitations;
114 exceptions.—
115 (22)(a) A prosecution for a misdemeanor violation of s.
116 784.049 must be commenced within 5 years after the commission of
117 the offense or within 3 years after the date on which the victim
118 obtains knowledge of the offense or should have obtained such
119 knowledge by the exercise of due diligence.
120 (b) A prosecution for a felony violation of s. 784.049 must
121 be commenced within 7 years after the commission of the offense
122 or within 3 years after the date on which the victim obtains
123 knowledge of the offense or should have obtained such knowledge
124 by the exercise of due diligence.
125 Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2025.