Cyberflashing involves sending obscene pictures to strangers online, often done through Bluetooth or AirDrop transfers between devices. [1] [2] [3]
The first mainstream coinage of the term occurred around 13 August 2015, after a female commuter was AirDropped two pictures of a penis. The case was reported to the British Transport Police who indicated that as the pictures were declined, insufficient data was recorded by the receiving phone and could not provide suitable evidence. [2]
An appropriately equipped device can seek out any active peers within about 10 meters. [4] The harassing individual can make an initial connection with any device that is open to all users. A photo can then be sent with a preview of the photo being shown to the device's owner at the same time as a request to allow the connection. Therefore, the harassment (the "flashing") can occur before a specific connection is authorized. [5]
On 13 August 2017, the New York Post reported that at least two women were sent nude pictures while commuting. [6] A HuffPost reporter in the UK was also sent more than 100 sexual pictures while commuting. This case was reported to the British Transport Police, and when these news stories were published, several women indicated to the publications that they had suffered similar harassment. [1] However, UK police forces indicate very few complaints about these actions despite "a growing awareness" of it occurring. This indicates a wide level of under-reporting and thus few arrests and prosecutions. [1]
In Australia, in May 2018, it was reported that cyberflashing was increasingly common as a prank used by children, popular due to its ease in targeting multiple individuals very rapidly in a fairly unidentifiable fashion. [7]
In Israel, in May 2022, an AnadoluJet flight aborted its takeoff at Ben Gurion Airport after pictures of airplane crashes were distributed among passengers via AirDrop. [8]
As with other technological-based abuses, such as deepfake pornography, revenge porn, and upskirting, there was no specific pre-existing law designed to criminalize and prevent cyberflashing. This means that many police forces were and are required to fall back on more generalized crimes such as harassment and outraging public decency. [9]
In New South Wales, Australia, the Crimes Amendment (Intimate Images) Act 2017 [10] was passed to make it an offense to "intentionally record or distribute, or threaten to record or distribute, an intimate image of a person without their consent". [11] This legislation covers cyberflashing by its prohibition on distributing intimate images without consent.
In Singapore, cyberflashing, upskirt photography, and revenge porn have been criminalized since May 2019. [12]
Cyberflashing ("coercing a person into looking at a sexual image") was made an offence in Scotland in 2010. [13] [14] In England and Wales, the Online Safety Act 2023 amended the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to create a new criminal offence of cyberflashing ("sending etc photograph or film of genitals"). [15]
In the United States and United Kingdom, there have been several pieces of proposed legislation to combat cyberflashing. In April 2022, the state of Virginia passed Senate Bill 493, which prescribes civil penalties for an adult who knowingly sends another adult sexually explicit images without their consent. [16] The U.K. government passed the Online Safety Act 2023 in October 2023. [17] [18] The CONSENT Act, a federal bill which “aims to provide protection for recipients of sexually explicit images, including images manipulated by artificial intelligence or machine learning", was introduced in the United States in 2024. [19]
Upskirting or upskirt photography is the practice of taking photographs or videos under a person's skirt or kilt, capturing an image or video of the crotch area, showing underwear such as panties, and sometimes genitalia. An "upskirt" is a photograph, video, or illustration which incorporates such an image, although the term may also be used to refer to the area of the body inside a skirt, usually from below and while being worn.
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Definitions and restrictions on pornography vary across jurisdictions. The production, distribution, and possession of pornographic films, photographs, and similar material are activities that are legal in many but not all countries, providing that any specific people featured in the material have consented to being included and are above a certain age. Various other restrictions often apply as well. The minimum age requirement for performers is most typically 18 years.
The Communications Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act, which came into force on 25 July 2003, superseded the Telecommunications Act 1984. The new act was the responsibility of Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell. It consolidated the telecommunication and broadcasting regulators in the UK, introducing the Office of Communications (Ofcom) as the new industry regulator. On 28 December 2003 Ofcom gained its full regulatory powers, inheriting the duties of the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel). Among other measures, the act introduced legal recognition of community radio and paved the way for full-time community radio services in the UK, as well as controversially lifting many restrictions on cross-media ownership. It also made it illegal to use other people's Wi-Fi broadband connections without their permission. In addition, the legislation also allowed for the first time non-European entities to wholly own a British television company.
Rape pornography is a subgenre of pornography involving the description or depiction of rape. Such pornography either involves simulated rape, wherein sexually consenting adults feign rape, or it involves actual rape. Victims of actual rape may be coerced to feign consent such that the pornography produced deceptively appears as simulated rape or non-rape pornography. The depiction of rape in non-pornographic media is not considered rape pornography. Simulated scenes of rape and other forms of sexual violence have appeared in mainstream cinema, including rape and revenge films, almost since its advent.
Sexual grooming is the action or behavior used to establish an emotional connection with a vulnerable person – generally a minor under the age of consent – and sometimes the victim's family, to lower their inhibitions with the objective of sexual abuse. It can occur in various settings, including online, in person, and through other means of communication. Children who are groomed may experience mental health issues, including "anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and suicidal thoughts."
Cyberstalking is the use of the Internet or other electronic means to stalk or harass an individual, group, or organization. It may include false accusations, defamation, slander and libel. It may also include monitoring, identity theft, threats, vandalism, solicitation for sex, doxing, or blackmail. These unwanted behaviors are perpetrated online and cause intrusion into an individual's digital life as well as negatively impact a victim's mental and emotional well-being, as well as their sense of safety and security online.
Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 is a law in the United Kingdom criminalising possession of what it refers to as "extreme pornographic images". The law came into force on 26 January 2009. The legislation was brought in following the murder of Jane Longhurst by a man who was said at the time of his trial to have had "extreme pornography" in his possession at the time of the death. The law has been more widely used than originally predicted, raising concerns as to whether the legislation is being used for prosecutions beyond the scope originally envisaged by parliament.
Sexting is sending, receiving, or forwarding sexually explicit messages, photographs, or videos, primarily between mobile phones. It may also include the use of a computer or any digital device. The term was first popularized early in the 21st century and is a portmanteau of sex and texting, where the latter is meant in the wide sense of sending a text possibly with images. Sexting is not an isolated phenomenon but one of many different types of sexual interaction in digital contexts that is related to sexual arousal.
Child pornography is erotic material that depicts persons under the designated age of majority. The precise characteristics of what constitutes child pornography varies by criminal jurisdiction.
Cyberbullying is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Since the 2000s, it has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers and adolescents, due to young people's increased use of social media. Related issues include online harassment and trolling. In 2015, according to cyberbullying statistics from the i–Safe Foundation, over half of adolescents and teens had been bullied online, and about the same number had engaged in cyberbullying. Both the bully and the victim are negatively affected, and the intensity, duration, and frequency of bullying are three aspects that increase the negative effects on both of them.
Revenge porn is the distribution of sexually explicit images or videos of individuals without their consent, with the punitive intention to create public humiliation or character assassination out of revenge against the victim. The material may have been made by an ex-partner from an intimate relationship with the knowledge and consent of the subject at the time, or it may have been made without their knowledge. The subject may have experienced sexual violence during the recording of the material, in some cases facilitated by psychoactive chemicals such as date rape drugs which also cause a reduced sense of pain and involvement in the sexual act, dissociative effects and amnesia.
Clare Mary Smith McGlynn is a Professor of Law at Durham University in the UK. She specialises in the legal regulation of pornography, image-based sexual abuse, cyberflashing, online abuse, violence against women, and gender equality in the legal profession. In 2020, she was appointed an Honorary KC in recognition of her work on women's equality in the legal profession and shaping new criminal laws on extreme pornography and image-based sexual abuse. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Lund University, Sweden, in 2018 in recognition of the international impact of her research on sexual violence and she is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. She is a member of the UK Parliament's Independent Expert Panel hearing appeals in cases of sexual misconduct, bullying and harassment against MPs. She has given evidence before Scottish, Northern Irish and UK Parliaments on how to reform laws on sexual violence and online abuse, as well as speaking to policy audiences across Europe, Asia and Australia. In November 2019, she was invited to South Korea to share international best practice in supporting victims of image-based sexual abuse and she has worked with Facebook, TikTok and Google to support their policies on non-consensual intimate images.
A dick pic is an image or photograph of a penis, usually erect, sent electronically. The term dick pic is derived from dick, slang for penis, and pic, a shortening of the word picture. Dick pics are a sexual practice and a form of sexting.
Carrie Goldberg is an American lawyer specializing in sex crimes with her law firm C.A. Goldberg PLLC. She has represented: five clients who described sexual abuse committed by Harvey Weinstein; the former Democrat Member of Congress Katie Hill after her naked photos were published in the media; and the author Emma Cline after an ex-partner sued for plagiarism. Her legal cases with low-profile individuals—involving revenge porn, intimate partner violence and online abuse—often draw national media attention.
The Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amends the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to make upskirting a specific offence of voyeurism. The Act came into force on 12 April 2019.
Deepfake pornography, or simply fake pornography, is a type of synthetic pornography that is created via altering already-existing photographs or video by applying deepfake technology to the images of the participants. The use of deepfake porn has sparked controversy because it involves the making and sharing of realistic videos featuring non-consenting individuals, typically female celebrities, and is sometimes used for revenge porn. Efforts are being made to combat these ethical concerns through legislation and technology-based solutions.
The Harmful Digital Communications Act is a New Zealand law that regulates the occurrences and impacts of issues such as online bullying, harassment, revenge porn, and other forms of digital abuse and intimidation. Netsafe is the agency approved by the New Zealand Police to process complaints about harmful digital communications.
The Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020, also known as Coco's law is an act of the Oireachtas dealing with non-Consensual Distribution of Intimate Images and cyberbullying.
Generative AI pornography or simply AI pornography refers to digitally created explicit content produced through generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Unlike traditional pornography, which involves real actors and cameras, this content is synthesized entirely by AI algorithms. These algorithms, including Generative adversarial network (GANs) and text-to-image models, generate lifelike images, videos, or animations from textual descriptions or datasets.
