Sask. justice minister introduces revenge porn law

The government of Saskatchewan has introduced legislation to deal with so-called revenge porn.

It's something the province promised to do last weekin its throne speech.

The new bill, introduced Tuesday, allows someone who has had an intimate imagecirculated without permissionto sue the person who distributed it.

"Social media is one of those things that's incredibly pervasive," said Don Morgan, minister of justice.

"It follows young people home, it follows them into their bedrooms late at night. This is a protection that we want to have so that they will have a disincentive for that type of conduct to continue and allow people some tools to allow the images to be taken down."

The new law would also shiftthe burden of proof from the victim to the person who shared the image and wouldallow victims to go to small claims court, which has a lower burden of proof than criminal court.

Manitoba was the first province in Canada to pass this kind of law.

The Opposition NDP in Saskatchewan says distributing intimate images without a person's permission is a problem that needs addressing, but saysit would like to study the specifics of this legislation further before deciding whether to support it.