Revenge Porn Laws in Louisiana: What Victims Need to Know in 2026
What Louisiana Law Says
Louisiana addresses revenge porn under Louisiana Revised Statutes Section 14:283.2, titled "Nonconsensual disclosure of a private image." A first offense is classified as a misdemeanor, while subsequent offenses are felonies.
For a first offense, penalties include up to 6 months in parish jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. A second offense carries up to 2 years imprisonment with or without hard labor and a fine of up to $2,000. A third or subsequent offense is punishable by up to 3 years imprisonment with or without hard labor and fines up to $3,000. Louisiana's escalating penalty structure provides increasing consequences for repeat offenders of NCII distribution.
Review the statute at the Louisiana Legislature website.
What Counts as Revenge Porn in Louisiana
Louisiana's statute defines the offense through these elements. The content must be an image of a person who is recognizable and depicted in a state of full or partial nudity or engaged in sexual conduct. The image was obtained under circumstances where the depicted person had a reasonable expectation of privacy. The offender knowingly disclosed the image to a third party. The disclosure was without the consent of the depicted person.
Louisiana's law covers all distribution methods including social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter/X, websites, messaging applications, and email. The requirement that the person be "recognizable" means the image must identify the victim, either through their face, distinctive features, or context.
How to Report
Louisiana victims should follow these steps:
- Document everything — Take screenshots, save URLs, record timestamps and account names, and preserve all communications.
- File a police report — Contact your local police department or parish sheriff's office. Reference LA RS 14:283.2.
- Contact the district attorney — Each judicial district in Louisiana has a district attorney who handles criminal cases. Contact their office directly if needed.
- Report to the FBI — File with the FBI IC3 for internet-based distribution.
- Seek a temporary restraining order — Louisiana courts can issue protective orders addressing the distribution of intimate images.
Limitations of Criminal Law
Louisiana's criminal law provides a framework for prosecution, but the misdemeanor classification for first offenses means cases may receive lower priority. The escalating penalty structure requires proof of prior convictions to access felony-level charges, which limits the deterrent effect for first-time offenders.
Law enforcement resources vary significantly across Louisiana's parishes. Urban areas like New Orleans and Baton Rouge may have more resources for digital crime investigation, while rural parishes may struggle with the technical demands of these cases. Anonymous posting and cross-jurisdictional issues further complicate investigation and prosecution.
The criminal process does not address content removal. Images remain online throughout the legal proceedings and even after a conviction. Each platform requires a separate takedown request, and some sites resist removal entirely.
Removing the Content
Content removal should begin immediately, independent of the criminal process.
The TAKE IT DOWN Act requires platforms to remove NCII within 48 hours of a valid request.
StopNCII.org provides a free hashing tool that creates digital fingerprints for participating platforms to automatically block matching content.
IntimaShield offers professional NCII removal services managing multi-platform takedowns, search engine de-indexing, and ongoing monitoring for re-uploads.
See also: Texas's revenge porn law for a neighboring Southern state comparison.
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