Urgent need to safeguard online spaces

Incidents of cyberflashing are turning the online world into a nightmare, leaving victims feeling violated and underscoring the need for tougher safeguards and support systems. — Image by cookie_studio on Freepik

What starts as an innocent online chat can quickly turn distressing, as some individuals find themselves victims of cyberflashing, where unsolicited obscene images or videos, often exposing genitals, are sent without warning or consent.

The term cyberflashing was first coined in 2015 after a case in the United Kingdom where a woman received an unsolicited image of a penis via AirDrop, a feature on Apple iPhones that allows users to send files to nearby devices.