New York S 9176: Relates to private rights of action for certain unlawfully disseminated images or depictions of individuals

Bill Text

Bill Search and Legislative Information | New York State Assembly 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

 Skip to main content 

 New York State Assembly

 Speaker Carl E. Heastie

 --> 
 --> 

 --> 

• 
 Assembly Members 

• 
 Legislative Info 

• 
 Public Hearings 

• 
 Speaker's Press 

• 
 Assembly Reports 

• 
 Committees & More 

• Bill Search Home
• Laws
• Legislative Calendar
• Public Hearing Schedule
• Assembly Calendars
• Assembly Committee Agenda 

 Javascript must be enabled to properly view this page. 

 Bill No.: 

• Summary 
• Actions 
• Committee&nbspVotes 
• Floor&nbspVotes 
• Memo 
• Text 
• LFIN 
• Chamber&nbspVideo/Transcript 
S09176 Summary:

BILL NOS09176 

&nbsp

SAME ASNo Same As

&nbsp

SPONSORMAY

&nbsp

COSPNSR

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

Amd §§52-b & 52-c, Civ Rts L

&nbsp

Imposes a penalty of $20,000 per violation for violations of certain provisions relating to unlawfully disseminated images or depictions of individuals; clarifies that the owner or a wholly owned subsidiary of the owner of a website that hosts or transmits such images or depictions shall be liable for such violations; removes certain language restricting such violations to instances where such images or depictions were made for the purposes of harassing or annoying the individual; makes related provisions.

Go to top S09176 Actions:

BILL NOS09176 

&nbsp

02/11/2026REFERRED TO CODES

Go to topS09176 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS09176 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topS09176 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 9176

 IN SENATE

 February 11, 2026
 ___________

 Introduced by Sen. MAY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
 printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes

 AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to private rights of
 action for certain unlawfully disseminated images or depictions of
 individuals

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. The opening paragraph of subdivision 1 of section 52-b of
 2 the civil rights law, as amended by section 3 of subpart A of part MM of
 3 chapter 58 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows:
 4 Any person depicted in a still or video image, including an image
 5 created or altered by digitization, regardless of whether or not the
 6 original still or video image was consensually obtained, shall have a
 7 cause of action against an individual who, [for the purpose of harass-
 8 ing, annoying or alarming such person,] disseminated or published, or
 9 threatened to disseminate or publish, such still or video image, where
 10 such image:
 11 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 52-b of the civil rights law, as added
 12 by chapter 109 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
 13 2. In any action commenced pursuant to subdivision one of this
 14 section[,]:
 15 (a) the finder of fact, in its discretion, may award injunctive
 16 relief, punitive damages in addition to any imposed under paragraph (b)
 17 of this subdivision, compensatory damages and reasonable court costs and
 18 attorney's fees; and
 19 (b) the court shall impose punitive damages of twenty thousand dollars
 20 per violation found to have occurred.
 21 § 3. Subdivision 5 of section 52-c of the civil rights law, as added
 22 by chapter 304 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows:
 23 5. In any action commenced pursuant to this section[,]:
 24 (a) the finder of fact, in its discretion, may award injunctive
 25 relief, punitive damages in addition to any imposed under paragraph (b)
 26 of this subdivision, compensatory damages, and reasonable court costs
 27 and attorney's fees; and

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD14534-02-6

 S. 9176 2

 1 (b) the court shall impose punitive damages of twenty thousand dollars
 2 per violation found to have occurred.
 3 § 4. The opening paragraph of paragraph a of subdivision 5 of section
 4 52-b of the civil rights law, as amended by section 3 of subpart A of
 5 part MM of chapter 58 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as
 6 follows:
 7 [Any] Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision ten of this
 8 section, any website, or the owner of such website or any wholly owned
 9 subsidiary of the owner of such website, that hosts or transmits a still
 10 or video image, including an image created or altered by digitization,
 11 viewable in this state or where harm has otherwise occurred in this
 12 state, taken under circumstances where the person depicted had a reason-
 13 able expectation that the image would remain private, which depicts:
 14 § 5. Subdivision 2 of section 52-c of the civil rights law, as added
 15 by chapter 304 of the laws of 2020, is amended by adding a new paragraph
 16 c to read as follows:
 17 c. Notwithstanding the provisions