In the digital age, it’s no surprise that sexually explicit content has permeated from the physical plane into our technology. However, since technological usage is such a prevalent part of our every day, this comes with moral and legal issues related to consent and mental health. The term “cyber-flashing” is now used to describe the unsolicited or nonconsensual sharing of sexual content via digital technology, including text messages, social media, and Bluetooth capability. Due to the nature and commonality of male sexual violence and harassment against women, this concept should be contextualized as gendered, intersectional, and contingent on nonconsent. Cyber-flashing thrives in a sexist culture that works to take away women’s sexual autonomy. This oppressive culture is perpetuated by demeaning advertisements, media portrayals, and the commodification of the female body in the fashion and plastic surgery industries. For this reason, cyber-flashing fits into the “raunch culture” that Morehead State University Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies Bernadette Bardon discusses by enabling individuals to take advantage of technological advancements and the stigma around women’s sexuality.
In fact, nonconsensual sexual offending is often not about the perpetrator’s sexual arousal but about power and control over a humiliated and fearful party. Much of this motivation is often under the guise of gendered stereotypes surrounding the over-sexual nature of men in comparison to women’s preference for emotional connection, but this is often exaggerated and overly reported. It’s also important to note that cyber-flashing goes beyond mere exhibitionism, in which case the receiving individual would be consenting, and into narcissistic tendencies that are more encompassing of the power dynamic this act creates. Like other digitally-based nonconsensual sexual offenses (i.e., revenge porn, upskirting, deepfake technology manipulation), cyber-flashing’s motivations rely on the perpetrator’s emotional dysregulation. The inability to filter and cope with negative emotions on a personal level, therefore, implicates complete strangers as they are AirDropped a “dick pic” on their morning public transport commute to work. This issue is complex, though, because emotional dysregulation could stem from childhood sexual assault, making this both a societal and individual issue in need of redress so as not to continue the cycle.
Particularly as younger and younger generations are raised with technological access, the possible harms of nonconsensual sexual offenses on children should be considered. 73% of parents report allowing their children to have their own phones at the age of twelve. This is even more prevalent since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, as children had to have technology and internet access to engage with their schoolwork. According to the Office of Communication, nearly all children between the ages of five and fifteen moved their learning online in 2020. In the digital space with less parental supervision, about half of those children shared their own content online, partially leading to an increase in the amount of child sexual abuse cases reported while at home. Between childhood and adolescence, unsolicited sexts and sexual images become a common occurrence for girls, as they feel pressured to comply based on societal standards for women and the manipulation tactics used by the perpetrator.
Societal response to cyber-flashing tends to follow certain trends. The most common of these is non-confrontational, including deleting or rejecting the content and blocking the user. The reasoning behind this response stems from the fear that with a confrontational approach, the perpetrator will become more hostile, send more unsolicited images, or find the victim’s personal information (i.e., home address) to their detriment. This is not without basis, as male-ego-driven cyber-attacks happen frequently. Other responses take a more creative approach, tying in art culture, activism, and humor. In 2016, artist Whitney Bell created an exhibition featuring 150 unsolicited dick pics entitled “I Didn’t Ask For This: A Lifetime of Dick Pics” as a way to mirror society back at itself. In this way, artists like Bell hope to replicate the digital world that women inhabit for men so that they may question their own motives and actions. Further, exhibitions like this allow for the creation of community for women receiving this type of sexual harassment and violence. Going further, Alexandra Tweten sponsored a Change.org petition which prompted Facebook to update its community guideline policies on cyber-flashing, allowing for online activism to cause real-world effects.
In contrast to the previous responses, certain online spaces have been created to actually solicit dick pics to promote body-positive goals. When Tumblr was still a main social media hub, and before it updated its community guideline policies to ban sexually explicit content altogether, CritiqueMyDickPic was a blog that encouraged sex-positivity, trans-masc participation, and true body-positivity while offering help with photographic and consent-based suggestions to men engaging in sexually explicit content creation. This flips the typical narrative on its head as this type of distribution is no longer nonconsensual, although being sexually explicit, creating a gray area morally and legally.
Legally, there have been varied responses to nonconsensual sexual offenses, including dick pics, based on geographical locations and governing policies. For instance, effective September of 2019, Texas instituted Penal Code section 21.19, “Unlawful Electronic Transmission of Sexually Explicit Visual Material,” which outlawed nonconsensual sexual offenses. This policy is controversial because it has implications for the First Amendment’s free speech requirements. When considering sexts as part of “free speech,” it may be arguable that limiting this would be in violation of the Constitution. However, the First Amendment has a contingency of the true threat doctrine, which voids the free speech allowance when there is intimidation or danger on the line. Additionally, under English law, policies have failed to keep in step with technological advances. Countries like England and Wales' law makes cyber-flashing only prosecutable under certain, limited circumstances because of the confusing language and omissions in realistic implementation.
In order to strengthen these policy interventions, early educational programs, mental health practitioner roles, industry reform, and legal designation are both urgent and necessary. Guiding children and adolescents on responsible technological literacy and providing them with supportive resources, such as practicing safe sexting with a robot, will help establish an end to online sexual violence. Then, advocating for industry reform within social media platforms will create the systemic change needed to accomplish legal accountability. Research also plays a role here in establishing easily accessible methods to identify sender phone numbers of AirDrop content. This would be possible through sysdiagnose analysis and could lead to the delineation of nonconsensual sexual offenses as their own legal violation will allow for easier prosecution of perpetrators as well as general societal safety measures.
By Emily Carriere