UK Tightens Law For Dating And Social Media Firms To Proactively Block 'Cyberflashing'
Technology firms that fail to act face hefty fines of up to 10 per cent of their qualifying worldwide revenue and could even have their services blocked in the UK.
Dating apps and social media platforms must now pro-actively block 'cyberflashing', or unsolicited crude imagery, as the UK clamped down on such activity as a priority offence under the Online Safety Act from Thursday. Technology firms that fail to act face hefty fines of up to 10 per cent of their qualifying worldwide revenue and could even have their services blocked in the UK.
Cyber platforms will be required to take proactive steps to prevent 'vile content' from appearing in the first place and not just react after the “harm is done”. 'We’ve cracked down on perpetrators of this vile crime – now we’re turning up the heat on tech firms,' said UK Technology Secretary Liz Kendall.
“Platforms are now required by law to detect and prevent this material. The internet must be a space where women and girls feel safe, respected, and able to thrive,' she said. Companies are expected to tackle sexually explicit images, for example, by using automated systems that pre-emptively detect and hide the image, implementing moderation tools or stricter content policies.
Bumble was praised as the first dating app to explicitly moderate cyberflashing to protect its members from seeing unwanted pictures. The women-first dating app launched 'Private Detector', an artificial intelligence (AI) powered feature that automatically detects and blurs nudity in images sent within chats. It then alerts the recipient, who can choose to view, block, or report the image.
The AI model is carefully trained with vast datasets to avoid misclassification, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) notes. 'Receiving unsolicited sexual images is a daily violation that disproportionately impacts women and undermines their sense of safety online,” said Elymae Cedeno, vice-president at Bumble.
'Strengthening the law to make cyberflashing a priority offence is an important step toward ensuring platforms proactively address this behaviour to better protect members,' she said.
The Office of Communications (OFCOM), the UK's industry watchdog, will now consult on new codes of practice to set out exactly what steps platforms must take to protect users from unsolicited sexual images. The government said the latest move builds on efforts to tackle online abuse and halve violence against women and girls.
'For too long cyberflashing has been just another degrading abuse women and girls are expected to endure. We are changing this,' said Jess Phillips, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence against Women and Girls.
“By placing the responsibility on tech companies to block this vile content before users see it, we are preventing women and girls from being harmed in the first place. We will deploy the full power of the state to make this country safe for women and girls, both online and offline,' she said. The DSIT referenced a recent YouGov survey in England to highlight that women and girls were “disproportionately targeted” by such activity, with one in three teenage girls having received unsolicited sexual images.
