Emily Clarkson, daughter of Jeremy Clarkson, has said she gets “cyberflashed relentlessly” on Instagram and criticised the social media platform for not doing enough to stop the behaviour.
The 27-year-podcast host revealed she was inspired by “women smarter than me” to respond to the men who send unsolicited sexual images with a fake automated message.
Clarkson, who hosts the podcast Should I Delete That?, said her devised response says: “Our AI technology has recognised you have sent this. If you believe it was a mistake, please reply ‘Help’ or your account will be terminated by the end of the day.”
She added: “It’s great to see all these men writing back, ‘Help!’.”
Clarkson is one of a group of female social media influencers who have been calling for laws that apply to sexual harassment and flashing in real life to be applied online.
She told The Sunday Times that Instagram “has nothing really policing” cyberflashing, in which is when a person sends un unsolicited sexual image on their device via AirDrop, Bluetooth or over wifi.
“I report them and [Instagram says], ‘It does not go against our guidelines’. I have never had a complaint upheld [by Instagram], I think.”
However, any images she posts that are part of the “free the nipple” campaign are removed, because the platform deems photographs of “uncovered female nipples” violate its policies on nudity.
The Inbetweeners actor Emily Atack also revealed last year that she was “bombarded with penis shots, rape threats, sexually aggressive comments” after she joined an anti-cyberflashing campaign by Grazia.
In March, Clarkson, and other influencers, including former Love Island contestants Sharon Gaffka and Amber Gill, as well as former TV presenter Carol Vorderman, met with digital and culture secretary Nadine Dorries to discuss the new Online Safety Harms Bill.
The bill, which was announced in the Queen’s Speech last week, promises to bring internet users “one step closer to a safer online environment” and criminalises cyberflashing.
Although it is a welcome development, Clarkson said it does not go far enough to protect people online.
“People think [social media is] a silly little hobby of bored little girls. It is so not like that online,” she said.
“It is fabulous – the makeup, the hair, the love, the community, the support. But it is also very dangerous, breeding ‘incels’, terrorism, abuse and hate crimes.”
Clarkson added that it is unrealistic to expect teenagers to delete their social media because “everything is online now”.
“It is victim-blaming at its core,” she continued.
A Meta spokesperson, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, told the publication: “The harassment of women is unacceptable. That’s why we don’t allow gender-based hate or any threat of sexual violence, and last year we announced stronger protections for female public figures.”
