Is it legal to use someone else’s picture to solicit porn? Do you have to verify age before showing upper body nudity?
Today I found that there are at least 100 fake Facebook profiles that are used to lure people into going to a webcam porn like site. They friend request guys, then tag them in what looks like selfies of a girl almost naked, not showing her head, and a message saying they are bored and to text them. If you text, they ask your name, pretend their phone is dying, and send a link to a website so you can chat online. The link opens up to a video of a girl in panties and no shirt bouncing her boobs around. There is a clock counting down and it says you get charged after 5 minutes. I have several concerns here, and am wondering if this is legal. My concerns are:
1. These Facebook accounts are fake, but feature profile pictures. These profile pictures are obviously not the girl in the Facebook posts. Can they use someone elses image to sell sex?
2. The site I was initially led to did not verify that I was not a minor before showing the girl wearing only panties. Surely that’s not ok?
Criminal Defense Lawyer Richard Simon’s Answer
1. Yes they can use those images if the girls in the photos authorized them to, if not, the girls in then images have a lawsuit against the company using their images. They could sue under false light and defamation of charachter.
2. Yes and NO. The internet is rampant with these sites and the question your question involves the intersection of free speech and protecting underage kids from porn. The law is all over the place as to how to protect underage kids from pornography and none of them appear to be effective.. Several jurisdictions and states have different laws as to how verification should occur and how many barriers their should be to entering explicit sites.
The reality of the situation is that pornography is all over the net and available to young men. Parents have to do their best to police their kids access to porn.