Cyber flashing now a priority offence in UK

Cyber Flashing Becomes a Priority Offence in 2024

Cyber flashing became illegal in 2024. The government is now making it a priority offence, putting pressure on tech companies to address it.

Cyber flashing is when someone sends a non-consensual explicit picture, commonly known as a “dick pic.”

Women are most often the recipients. Research by dating app Bumble shows that women aged 40 to 45 are the most likely to receive these images.

It is a common experience online. One in three teenage girls report receiving an unwanted sexual image, according to YouGov data.

What Changes Now?

Under the Online Safety Act, enforced fully since July last year, online platforms must ensure they do not host illegal content.

If they do, they can face fines of 10% of their revenue or £18 million, whichever is higher, imposed by Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator.

By making cyber flashing a priority offence, the government signals to regulators and tech firms that it takes this crime seriously.

“The bar is much higher on what platforms need to do,” said Kanishka Narayan, the minister for AI and online safety, to Sky News.

New Requirements for Online Platforms

Platforms like dating and social media apps must now:

• Assess the risk of cyber flashing specifically
• Proactively prevent it, rather than react after it occurs
• Incorporate safety features against cyber flashing into their product design

Can Tech Firms Stop Cyber Flashing?

From a technology standpoint, stopping cyber flashing is not particularly difficult.

Bumble has filtered lewd messages since 2019 and open-sourced the technology four years ago.

“We trained it on many data sets of both lewd and non-lewd images, achieving about 98% accuracy,” said Namrata Haribal, product manager for safety at Bumble.

Most major platforms now have technology to spot explicit images and intervene before they are seen by unwilling recipients.

Mr. Narayan insists that upgrading cyber flashing to a priority offence is crucial.

“While there’s been a drop in cyber flashing due to the Online Safety Act, we want to stamp it out even further,” he said.

“We heard that despite the drop, too many women and girls still experience this.”

Impact of Priority Offence Status

The minister believes this change will make a difference. However, Professor Clare McGlynn, a law professor at Durham University, is skeptical.

“This is a very welcome first step,” said Prof. McGlynn to Sky News.

“But the key question is, will it be enforced? That depends on the regulator Ofcom.”

Rape pornography and non-consensual intimate imagery are also priority offences, yet both types of abuse can still be found online, according to Prof. McGlynn.

“That’s because the Online Safety Act and Ofcom have not enforced it properly.”