Detail

At the end of January, the new Internet Security Act came into force in Great Britain. One of its articles establishes liability for cyberflashing (sending unsolicited photos of genitals).

Cyberstalking is a serious crime that has a lasting impact on victims, but can often be dismissed as a mindless prank or harmless prank. Just as those who engage in inappropriate behavior in the real world may face consequences, criminals who commit their crimes online should not have to hide behind a screen to evade the law.
– says prosecutor Hanna von Dadelzsen.

Nicholas Hawkes, 39, admitted sending photos of his genitals to two people, a 15-year-old girl and a 60-year-old woman. The latter took screenshots of the image and reported it to the police. Under the Sexual Offenses Act, victims of cyberattacks are promised anonymity after reporting such crimes.

Hawkes pleaded guilty to two counts of sending photographs or videos of genitals “with intent to cause alarm, distress or humiliation” on February 12; The 15-year-old victim, who received the message via iMessage, told the court she was “overwhelmed and overwhelmed”. in tears”.

A man was sentenced to a year in prison for a cyberattack, with an additional 14 weeks added for breaching an earlier sentence. Last year he was found guilty of having sexual intercourse with a child under 16 and sentenced to community service. He asked his father for a phone call to send the photos and said he wanted to call the parole service (the body that supervises convicts).

About the law

• The Internet Security Act was controversial from the start because it contained a number of provisions opposed by digital rights groups, including a new age verification requirement for online porn consumers and new requirements that would force companies to abandon end-to-end encryption of messages.
• Last year Apple and other tech companies signed a letter urging British lawmakers to review the law, saying end-to-end encryption was a vital tool for keeping communications between activists and journalists safe.
• Largely uncontroversial elements of the new legislation include banning unsolicited nude photographs, particularly those sent to children. Police emphasized that people sometimes think they can hide behind the internet when they commit various crimes, but this seems to be a very naive idea.
• Hawkes became the first person in Britain to be charged under the new law, which came into force on January 31.
• Similar laws exist in other parts of the world. For example, Scotland banned cyberflashing in 2010, and Northern Ireland followed suit last year. Singapore criminalized it in 2019, and in Australia the practice is illegal under certain circumstances. Some US states, including California, Virginia and Texas, have also started to take strict measures against cyber flashes.