II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2111 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide that it is unlawful to 

knowingly distribute private intimate visual depictions with reckless disregard for the individual’s lack of consent to the distribution, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 15, 2019 

Ms. HARRIS (for herself, Mr. BURR, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide that 

it is unlawful to knowingly distribute private intimate 

visual depictions with reckless disregard for the individual’s lack of consent to the distribution, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Harmful 

5 Image Exploitation and Limiting Distribution Act of 

6 2019’’ or the ‘‘SHIELD Act of 2019’’. 


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•S 2111 IS

1 SEC. 2. CERTAIN ACTIVITIES RELATING TO INTIMATE VIS2 UAL DEPICTIONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 88 of title 18, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 1802. Certain activities relating to intimate visual 

7 depictions 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE.—The term 

10 ‘communications service’ means— 

11 ‘‘(A) a service provided by a person that is 

12 a common carrier, as that term is defined in 

13 section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 

14 (47 U.S.C. 153), insofar as the person is acting 

15 as a common carrier; 

16 ‘‘(B) an electronic communication service, 

17 as that term is defined in section 2510; 

18 ‘‘(C) an information service, as that term 

19 is defined in section 3 of the Communications 

20 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153); and 

21 ‘‘(D) an interactive computer service, as 

22 that term is defined in section 230(f) of the 

23 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

24 230(f)). 

25 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION CONTENT PROVIDER.—The 

26 term ‘information content provider’ has the meaning 


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1 given that term in section 230(f) of the Communica2 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f)). 

3 ‘‘(3) INTIMATE VISUAL DEPICTION.—The term 

4 ‘intimate visual depiction’ means any visual depic5 tion (as that term is defined in section 2256(5))— 

6 ‘‘(A) of an individual who is reasonably 

7 identifiable from the visual depiction itself or 

8 information displayed in connection with the 

9 visual depiction; 

10 ‘‘(B) in which— 

11 ‘‘(i) the individual has obtained 18 

12 years of age and is engaging in sexually 

13 explicit conduct; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) the naked genitals, anus, pubic 

15 area or post-pubescent female nipple of the 

16 individual are visible; 

17 ‘‘(C) in which the content described in sub18 paragraph (B) is not simulated; and 

19 ‘‘(D) in original or modified format. 

20 ‘‘(4) SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONDUCT.—The term 

21 ‘sexually explicit conduct’ has the meaning given 

22 that term in section 2256(2)(A). 

23 ‘‘(b) OFFENSE.—Except as provided in subsection 

24 (d), it shall be unlawful to knowingly use any means or 


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1 facility of interstate or foreign commerce to distribute an 

2 intimate visual depiction of an individual— 

3 ‘‘(1) with knowledge of or reckless disregard 

4 for— 

5 ‘‘(A) the lack of consent of the individual 

6 to the distribution; and 

7 ‘‘(B) the reasonable expectation of the in8 dividual that the depiction would remain pri9 vate; and 

10 ‘‘(2) without an objectively reasonable belief 

11 that such distribution touches upon a matter of pub12 lic concern. 

13 ‘‘(c) PENALTY.—Any person who violates subsection 

14 (b) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 

15 than 5 years, or both. 

16 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) LAW ENFORCEMENT, LAWFUL REPORTING, 

18 AND OTHER LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.—This section— 

19 ‘‘(A) does not prohibit any lawful law en20 forcement, correctional, or intelligence activity; 

21 ‘‘(B) shall not apply in the case of an indi22 vidual acting in good faith to report unlawful 

23 activity or in pursuance of a legal or profes24 sional or other lawful obligation; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) shall not apply in the case of a docu2 ment production or filing associated with a legal 

3 proceeding. 

4 ‘‘(2) SERVICE PROVIDERS.—This section shall 

5 not apply to any provider of a communications serv6 ice with regard to content provided by another infor7 mation content provider unless the provider of the 

8 communications service intentionally solicits, or 

9 knowingly and predominantly distributes, content 

10 that the provider of the communications service ac11 tually knows is in violation of this section. 

12 ‘‘(e) THREATS.—Any person who intentionally 

13 threatens to commit an offense under subsection (b) shall 

14 be punished as provided in subsection (c). 

15 ‘‘(f) VENUE AND EXTRATERRITORIALITY.—A pros16 ecution under this section may be brought in a district 

17 where the defendant or the depicted individual resides or 

18 in a district where the intimate visual depictions are dis19 tributed or made available. There is extraterritorial Fed20 eral jurisdiction over an offense under this section if the 

21 defendant or the depicted individual is a citizen or perma22 nent resident of the United States.’’. 

23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

24 of chapter 88 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 


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1 by inserting after the item relating to section 1801 the 

2 following: 

‘‘1802. Certain activities relating to intimate visual depictions.’’. 

Æ 


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