JERUSALEM – Acting with the unanimous vote of the 31 members present, Israel’s Knesset plenum on Monday approved a law prescribing prison terms of up to five years for those who post sexually explicit videos online without the depicted persons’ permission.

The prohibition against posting applies not only to sites established especially for the purpose of distributing revenge porn, but also to social media.

Member of Knesset Yifat Kariv, who drafted the bill, indicated the new law will help stem the tide of so-called revenge porn. Those convicted under the legislation will be deemed sex criminals, and victims will be recognized as sexual assault survivors.

“These days, we are witnessing more and more cases of sexual assault that are fecklessly documented and shared with the public,” Kariv said told the Times of Israel. “This legislative intervention is crucial and will help combat the shocking phenomenon of ‘virtual rape.’ This is a great accomplishment for victims of sexual crimes.”

Laws criminalizing revenge porn exist in France and the Philippines and are under consideration in several other countries, including Canada. In the U.S., two states — California and New Jersey — outlaw the dissemination of explicit material meant to defame or embarrass the depicted individuals.

The practice gained worldwide attention — and generated significant outrage — when Hunter Moore launched the now-defunct IsAnyoneUp.com in 2010. Although explicit “ex-girlfriend” images had circulated among Usenet newsgroup users since at least 2000, Moore’s was the first public website to tag the subjects of user-submitted images and videos with personally identifiable information. During 2013 in the U.S. alone, lawsuits and criminal charges led to the removal from the web of at least two other revenge-porn mega-sites: TeXXXan.com and UGotPosted.com.

Revenge porn “is no prank, as it could ruin the lives of people and young girls, some of whom develop suicidal tendencies or become unwitting porn stars as a result,” Kariv said. “This is a dangerous phenomenon that must be weeded out, and I’m glad the Knesset thinks so as well.”