Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
The RESPECT Act strengthens federal penalties for sharing intimate images without consent by significantly increasing criminal punishments under the Communications Act of 1934. The bill increases prison sentences for intentionally disclosing nonconsensual intimate images, raising penalties from 2 to 5 years for first offenses and from 3 to 10 years for subsequent offenses, and extending other related sentence minimums from 18 months to 3 years and from 30 months to 5 years. This legislation protects individuals whose private explicit images are shared without permission—a form of sexual abuse commonly known as "nonconsensual pornography" or image-based abuse. The bill has no specified funding requirements and would take effect upon passage, with the increased penalties applying to violations of the Communications Act going forward. The legislation was introduced in July 2025 and referred to the House Energy and Commerce and Judiciary Committees for consideration.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.