A new law is soon to be introduced making the act known as ‘cyberflashing’ a criminal offence.
‘Cyberflashing’ is the practice of sending an unsolicited sexual image to people via social media or dating apps.
It can also be done over data sharing services such as Bluetooth and Airdrop too.
It’s a practice that’s on the rise too, as new research conduced by Professor Jessica Ringrose from 2020 found that 76% of girls aged 12-18 had been sent unsolicited nude images of boys or men.
This is why government ministers have confirmed their plans to ban the act, which is set to be included in the landmark Online Safety Bill, alongside wide-ranging reforms to keep people safe on the internet.
Under this new law, those who send photos or films of a person’s genitals for specific purposes, including for their own sexual gratification, could face up to 2 years in jail.
The Government says the new offence will ensure ‘cyberflashing’ is captured clearly by the criminal law, giving the police and Crown Prosecution Service “greater ability to bring more perpetrators to justice”, and it follows similar recent action to criminalise upskirting and breastfeeding voyeurism.
The Government says it is “determined” to protect people, particularly women and girls, from these emerging crimes.
Speaking on the introduction of the new law, Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Raab said: “Protecting women and girls is my top priority which is why we’re keeping sexual and violent offenders behind bars for longer, giving domestic abuse victims more time to report assaults and boosting funding for support services to £185 million per year.
“Making cyberflashing a specific crime is the latest step – sending a clear message to perpetrators that they will face jail time.”
According to the government, the Online Safety Bill will put more legal responsibility on social media platforms, search engines and other websites or apps which host user-generated content to tackle a range of illegal and harmful content on their services, and the new cyberflashing offence comes after three other new criminal offences were introduced through this Bill, tackling a wide range of “harmful private and public online communication”.
These include sending abusive emails, social media posts and WhatsApp messages, as well as ‘pile-on’ harassment – where many people target abuse at an individual such as in website comment sections.
