Cyber flashing just became a priority offence - here's what changes from today

Cyber flashing became amerciable successful 2024. Now, the authorities is making it a precedence offence, putting the unit connected tech companies to bash thing astir it. 

Cyber flashing is erstwhile idiosyncratic sends a non-consensual explicit representation - champion known arsenic a "dick pic".

It's astir often women connected the receiving extremity and, according to probe by dating app Bumble, the adults astir apt to person those images are women betwixt 40 and 45 years old.

That being said, it's an highly communal acquisition online, with 1 successful 3 teenage girls saying they've received an unwanted intersexual image, according to YouGov data.

What changes now?

Under the Online Safety Act, which began being afloat enforced successful July past year, online platforms person to marque definite they're not hosting amerciable content.

If they are, they tin beryllium fined 10% of their gross by Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, oregon £18m, whichever is higher.

By making cyber flashing a precedence offence, the authorities is signalling to the regulator and tech firms that it takes this transgression peculiarly seriously.

"The barroom is overmuch higher connected what platforms request to do," said Kanishka Narayan, the curate for AI and online safety, to Sky News.

Platforms similar dating and societal media apps volition present request to bash 3 things:

🞗 Assess the hazard of cyber flashing specifically
🞗 Proactively instrumentality steps to forestall it, alternatively than reacting aft it's happened
🞗 Build information features against cyber flashing into the plan of their products

Can tech firms really halt cyber flashing?

Cyber flashing isn't peculiarly hard to stop, from a exertion constituent of view.

Bumble has been filtering lewd messages since 2019 and open-sourced the exertion 4 years ago.

"We trained it connected a batch of information sets of some lewd, non-lewd images and that's however we've been capable to execute a exemplary with astir 98% accuracy," said Namrata Haribal, merchandise manager for information astatine Bumble.

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Almost each large platforms present person immoderate benignant of exertion similar this successful place, designed to spot explicit images and intervene earlier they're seen by idiosyncratic who doesn't privation to spot it.

Mr Narayan insists the upgrading of cyber flashing to a precedence offence is crucial, though.

"Whilst there's been a driblet successful cyber flashing arsenic a effect of it already being an offence nether the Online Safety Act, by making it a precedence offence, we privation to stamp it retired adjacent further," helium said.

"Because we besides heard that contempt the drop, determination are inactive excessively galore instances of women and girls successful peculiar experiencing this."

Will cyber flashing becoming a precedence offence marque a difference?

The curate says yes, but Professor Clare McGlynn, prof of instrumentality astatine Durham University, isn't truthful sure. She's been campaigning for amended cyber flashing rules for years.

"This is simply a precise invited archetypal step," said Prof McGlynn to Sky News.

"But the astir important facet is, Is it going to beryllium enforced? That comes down to the regulator Ofcom."

Rape pornography and non-consensual intimate imagery are besides some precedence offences, and yet some types of representation maltreatment tin inactive beryllium recovered online, says Prof McGlynn.

"That's due to the fact that the Online Safety Act and Ofcom person conscionable not enforced it properly."