Your private text messages are officially “publications” and writing something objectionable could land you in jail for 10 years according to a landmark ruling.

The ruling was made in January after lawyers sought to have a man’s sexual text messages to a 12-year-old girl classified as “objectionable publications” so he could be prosecuted for distributing banned material.

NetSafe chief technology officer Sean Lyons, whose organisation advises on digital safety, said “the fact they’ve said you can now call a text a publication – that’s a big deal. It’s another case for all of us in our increasingly connected world – here’s another one of these ‘stop, think and check’ processes before we create content.”…………..

A bill before Parliament would stop such a situation from occurring again. The Objectionable Publications and Indecency Legislation Bill, currently at select committee stage, would introduce an offence of “indecent communication with a young person” where the onus would be on any “sexter” to determine whether the recipient was 16 or older.

A 2014 survey by internet security firm McAfee found that 54 per cent of users had sent or received “intimate content”. For 18 to 24 year-olds the proportion rose to 70 per cent.

Full story here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/10132043/Sex-txts-can-end-with-jail