Committee advances bill to let victims sue over nonconsensual explicit images

The Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection subcommittee advanced AB 17‑05, the Reclaim Act, a bipartisan measure that would require anyone uploading explicit imagery to certify that the people depicted consented and were adults, sign that statement under penalty of perjury, and allow victims to bring civil suits against both the uploader and the website operator.

"Every day, countless Californians, especially women and children, are victimized by nonconsensual explicit imagery posted online without their knowledge or permission," the chair said during the bill presentation, urging the committee to provide tools for victims. Co‑author Assemblymember Dixon described the bill as a narrow, victim‑focused step to hold both uploaders and platform operators accountable and to cover artificially generated images as well as true photographs.

Supporters who addressed the committee included Ed Howard of the Children's Advocacy Institute, Catherine Squire of the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, and representatives from the California District Attorneys Association and the American Association of University Women. They said current remedies are often insufficient and that platform accountability and a private right of action would give survivors more options for remediation.

The bill as presented would: require a signed uploader statement certifying consent and that the subject was not a minor; make the statement subject to perjury; and permit civil actions against uploaders and site operators when consent was absent or a minor was depicted. Sponsors underscored that the measure was designed to be both preventive (requiring certification) and remedial (creating a civil remedy).

Committee members voiced broad sympathy for the bill's goals and for extending protections to victims of image‑based abuse, including AI‑generated imagery, and asked staff and authors to continue refining statutory definitions and enforcement language as the bill moves forward.

Action: The committee recorded a motion to pass AB 17‑05 to the Judiciary Committee. The transcript records the bill as advanced out of committee with the committee vote recorded as 13 ayes; it was left on call for absent members.

Next steps: AB 17‑05 was reported out of committee for further review by the Judiciary Committee. The committee and sponsors said they would continue technical work on definitions and remedies as the bill proceeds.