Neurobionic revenge porn and the criminal law: brain–computer interfaces and intimate image abuse

Brain computer interfaces make possible a form of neurobionic agency in which people interact with the Internet by mental action, without the need for a bodily movement. This chapter considers the possibility of someone uploading intimate images of another person, without their consent, onto social media by way of brain–computer interface. The author highlights the novel and perhaps problematic nature of the options for response to such offending (given current doctrine) that are available to the criminal law. The example of revenge porn is used as a case study to very tentatively consider the criminal law’s response to neurobionic offending more generally. While the law has criminalized bodily actions, omissions and certain kinds of status, neurobionic agency falls into none of these traditional categories, and some issues flow from this failure. The author argues that neurobionic revenge porn would present a challenge to the criminal law relating to the determination of the conduct that constitutes the actus reus. Thus, if the courts are required to respond to this kind of offending, it will raise questions about a concept that is currently central to the criminal law.