H.R. 5090 — HONOR Act

This section revises Article 117a of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (10 U.S.C. § 917a)—previously prohibiting service members from knowingly and wrongfully broadcasting or distributing nonconsensual intimate visual images or images of sexually explicit conduct of adults (18 or older) that were made under a reasonable expectation of privacy, likely to cause harm, and connected to a military mission or environment—to broadly prohibit any person subject to the UCMJ from knowingly broadcasting, distributing, or using a communication service to publish such images as follows: (1) an authentic intimate visual depiction (i.e., showing uncovered genitals, pubic area, anus, female nipple, bodily sexual fluids, or sexually explicit conduct) of an identifiable non-minor obtained under a reasonable expectation of privacy, without consent, not voluntarily exposed publicly, not a matter of public concern, and intended to cause or causing harm (psychological, financial, or reputational); (2) an authentic intimate visual depiction of an identifiable minor with intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade the minor, or arouse or gratify sexual desire; (3) a digital forgery (i.e., AI-generated or computer-manipulated image indistinguishable from authentic) of an identifiable non-minor, without consent, not voluntarily exposed publicly, not a matter of public concern, and intended to cause or causing harm; or (4) a digital forgery of an identifiable minor with intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade the minor, or arouse or gratify sexual desire. The section adds exceptions for authorized law enforcement or intelligence activities; good-faith disclosures (e.g., to law enforcement, in legal proceedings, for medical/educational purposes, or to report unlawful content); disclosures to assist the depicted individual; and self-possession or publication. It clarifies that consent to creation or prior disclosure does not imply consent to broadcast, distribution, or publication and provides definitions for consent (affirmative and voluntary), digital forgery, identifiable individual, visual depiction, and intimate visual depiction. (Thus, the revision expands prohibitions to minors and deepfakes, adds publication, removes the military nexus requirement, and codifies defenses and limitations on implied consent.)