Cyberflashing: The New Face of Online Sexual Harassment

The Hidden Threat Lurking in Your Child's Smartphone

Cyberflashing is a type of sexual harassment that involves sending unsolicited sexual images or videos to another person. It can happen through text messages, social media, or email. Cyberflashing can be a very distressing experience for the victim, and it can be difficult to know what to do if you or your child is a victim.

What is cyberflashing?

Cyberflashing is the act of sending explicit images to someone without their knowledge or consent. These images are often hidden within notifications or apps, surprising and potentially distressing the recipient when they are opened, it can be difficult to know what to do if you or your child is a victim.

How does cyberflashing happen?

Cyberflashing can happen in numerous ways. The perpetrator may send a single image or video, or they may send a series of them over time.

AirDrop, Apple's file-sharing tool, is frequently used for cyberflashing because it allows strangers to send unsolicited images to nearby devices. While AirDrop is a common method, cyberflashing can also occur via other file-sharing apps and social media, particularly when the sender knows the recipient's contact information.

Who is at risk of cyberflashing?

Anyone can be a victim of cyberflashing, but it is more common among young people. This is because as we have discussed before many young people live their lives through their smartphones and tablets.

32% of girls aged 12-18 have been sent unsolicited nude images of boys or men *Source: UK Government

What are the effects of cyberflashing?

Cyberflashing can have various negative effects on the victim. These can include:

• Feeling embarrassed, humiliated, or scared

• Feeling violated or powerless

• Experiencing anxiety, depression, or even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

• Difficulty sleeping or concentrating

• Avoiding social situations

What can you do if you or your child is a victim of cyberflashing?

If you or your child is a victim of cyberflashing, it is important to talk to someone about it. This could be a parent, guardian, teacher, counsellor, or therapist. It is also important to save any evidence of the cyberflashing, such as screenshots or text messages.

You can also report cyberflashing to the police. Cyber flashing became a criminal offence in England and Wales on 31 January 2024 and carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison

This can be reported to the Police under what they name ‘obscene and offensive behaviour’ by ringing 101, if it happened on public transport you can call the British Transport Police on 101 or via text on 61016. If this has happened at school, you may want to contact your child’s school.

How can you prevent cyberflashing?

There are a number of things you can do to help prevent cyberflashing:

• Discuss boundaries and encourage open communication
  Create a safe space for your child to talk about boundaries. Explain that it's okay to say "no" to anything that makes them feel uncomfortable, whether it's online or offline. Reassure them that they can always come to you or another trusted adult for help, without fear of judgment.

• Check your child’s AirDrop settings
  If your child has an iPhone, check their AirDrop settings with them (Settings > General > AirDrop) and, if necessary, take a look at their privacy settings. The default is set to “Everyone”, meaning anyone nearby can send unsolicited photos straight to your child’s phone. We recommend switching to “Contacts Only” so that only friends can send photos, or even “Receiving Off” if you and your child decide this is the safest option for them. If you wish to prevent them from turning it back on details can be found below¹

• Go through safety/privacy settings on other apps
  Work with your child to adjust privacy settings on their social media and file-sharing apps. Limiting interactions to "friends only" and carefully choosing connections can reduce the risk of cyberflashing. Some of my other posts on those platforms could be useful to you.

Help available from the professionals

Make sure your child is aware of the support available for victims.

• Provided by the UK Safer Internet Centre and operated by SWGfL, Report Harmful Content is a national reporting centre designed to assist anyone in reporting harmful content online also offering guidance and mediatory support to victims.

• The Mix is a charity providing free, confidential support to young people under 25 via online, social and mobile.

Hopefully, you will never need the advice in this article but being informed will certainly assist you or enable you to help others who fall foul of this horrible experience.

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below or reach out to me directly.

1. To prevent kids from turning it back on:

• Go into the Settings app and tap Screen Time. Then tap Content & Privacy Restrictions.

• In the Content & Privacy Restrictions section, toggle on the first setting, Content & Privacy Restrictions

• Tap Allowed Apps.

• On the Allowed Apps page, toggle off AirDrop.

• You can make sure that kids can't turn AirDrop back on by setting a passcode (which is found under Settings/Screen Time/Use Screen Time Passcode). Get more information on iOS's parental control settings.

• You'll also want to make sure that kids can't override your pass code by tapping Settings/Screen Time/Content & Privacy Restrictions, then scrolling down to the section called Allow Changes, tapping Passcode Changes, then Don't Allow.