Internal prototype — noindexed, not linked from public navigation yet.

N.Y. PEN Law § 250.71

This is the official text of N.Y. PEN Law § 250.71, part of New York’s Penal Law — defines crimes and punishments in New York.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Unlawful dissemination of a personal image

Official statutory text

§ 250.71 Unlawful dissemination of a personal image.\n A person is guilty of unlawful dissemination of a personal image when,\nwith the intent of degrading or abusing a person who has been the victim\nof a crime described in title H of this part, or otherwise causing harm\nto the emotional, financial or physical welfare of such victim or such\nvictim's family, the person intentionally:\n 1. (a) creates and disseminates or publishes a still or video image of\nsuch victim on a social media platform, without the victim's consent, in\na manner that has no or minimal cultural or social value;\n (b) the victim is identifiable from the still or video image itself or\nfrom information displayed in connection with the still or video image;\n (c) the victim suffered physical injury as a result of a sex offense\nas defined by article one hundred thirty of this part, serious physical\ninjury as a result of any non-sex offense, or death, and this injury or\ndeath is depicted in the image; and\n (d) the actor committed, participated in the commission of, or\nconspired to commit the crime that resulted in such injury to such\nvictim; or\n 2. acting as an agent of the actor who created an image in violation\nof subdivision one of this section, he or she knowingly disseminates or\npublishes such image.\n Unlawful dissemination of a personal image in the second degree is a\nclass A misdemeanor.\n

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.