Section 86 — Tort of inauthentic material abuse

(1)A person (X) must not make any communication that constitutes inauthentic material abuse by communicating material that X knew or had reasonable grounds to believe was inauthentic material of a victim.

(2)If X contravenes subsection (1), the victim of the inauthentic material abuse may bring civil proceedings in a court against X.

(3)In any proceedings mentioned in subsection (2), it is a defence for X to prove —

(a)that X’s conduct was reasonable; or

(b)that X had reasonable grounds to believe that the victim consented to the communication of the inauthentic material.

(4)In this section —“inauthentic material” has the meaning given by section 16(2); “victim”, in relation to inauthentic material abuse, means the victim mentioned in section 16(1).