After months of campaigning from popular dating app Bumble, the government has confirmed that the Online Safety Bill will include a new law to make Cyberflashing carry the same maximum sentence as indecent exposure. This comes after research conducted by Bumble finding that nearly half of those aged 18-24 receiving a sexual photo they did not ask for (48%) in the last year alone.
Whilst this is a welcome start, it only covers offences where you can prove that the person sent the image for sexual gratification or to cause distress, leaving out those who send images ‘for a laugh’. Professor Clare McGlynn QC of Durham University, an expert in Cyberflashing, said: “The proposed new law is a welcome first start recognising the serious harms of Cyberflashing.
“But the Government must go further if the reality is to live up to the rhetoric. The current proposal will only cover Cyberflashing where you can prove that the person sent the image for sexual gratification or to cause distress. This leaves a significant gap where men send the penis images for a laugh, a joke among their friends, to gain kudos. It will also make prosecutions very difficult.
