Mass. close to last state to ban "revenge porn"

Massachusetts likely won't be the very last state to ban " revenge porn ," the sharing of explicit images without the subject's consent.

Why it matters: It's taken lawmakers nearly seven years to strike a deal, but Democratic negotiators agreed Tuesday on a bill that would set up punishments for threatening to circulate private, explicit images to coerce or extort the subject.

Stunning stat: 48 states currently ban revenge porn.

• South Carolina is the only other holdout.

What they're saying: For survivors, "coercive and abusive control is a form of domestic violence that can be as insidious and harmful as acts of physical violence and should be treated that way under the law," Sen. John Keenan said in a statement.

Between the lines: Senate negotiators had hoped to include language in the bill defining other types of verbal and non-physical abuse as "coercive control," but it was left out of the final product that will likely pass the chambers this week.

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