Update as of September 30, 2022:
It’s been just one month since Sexual Health Alliance covered the topic of “cyber-flashing” and its various degrees of legality across the nation. This term, while previously relatively unknown, has gained some recent popularity due in part to the dating app, Bumble. On September 23, California bill SB 53 “Unsolicited Images” was approved by California Governor Gavin Newsom and chaptered by the Secretary of State. The bill, authored by Senator Connie M. Levya representing California’s 20th District, allows recipients of unsolicited lewd photos to sue the sender for up to $30,000. Moreover, the minimum damages payment is $1,500, and recipients can seek court orders blocking any further online harassment. This action not only validates and supports survivors of virtual sexual harassment but also solidifies California’s place as a policy leader in the United States, encouraging other states to follow suit. While Texas and Virginia already have similar regulations, it would not surprise me if, in the coming months and years, other states create similar laws to protect people from online attacks. Eventually, legal language like this may be used to create federal sanctions for assailants.
So where does Bumble come in? Well, as anyone who has ever been on a dating app could tell you, they are breeding grounds for unsolicited sexually explicit pictures. However, instead of assuming this an absolute, Bumble decided to take a stand. For context, Bumble’s founder and CEO, Whitney Wolfe Herd, has been breaking molds since Bumble’s inception, and in her quest for gender and racial parity, she has stayed on the cutting edge of technological innovation. The concept behind the app itself represents these values; giving women the power to control their love and sex lives while advancing gender roles. Furthermore, Bumble reinforced its commitment to kind online communities back in 2017 following the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements. As we know, social media is a huge driver behind modern social movements, and Bumble plays into these in the best sort of way. The app has a zero-tolerance policy for hate speech and, now, unsolicited nudes.
Bumble’s approach to this issue was two-fold: legal and technological. In this way, Bumble was able to marry two systems eternally at odds with each other. The fast-moving pace of technology often escapes legal regulations due to the contrasting slow policy processes. We all know that technological innovation is not going anywhere at this point, so it’s about time Big Tech gets involved in the legal realm. In this case, Bumble inserted itself in favor of Texas’ HB 2789 in 2019, essentially at the inception of the idea (another tie-in to the tech industry). Around this time, the app also started featuring an automatic-blurring system that would protect users from viewing sexually explicit images without their affirmed consent and click. These actions protect users both on and offline to ensure the dating scene is as equal and peaceful as possible.
Worth noting is the fact that this new bill refers only to the civil code. This means that the sender of unwanted photos or videos would not face any criminal charges for the offense. Rather, they would face civil penalties and incur a bill to be paid to the survivors. This highlights the distinction the law makes between sexual crimes and harassment, or potentially some third area to be named when the offense occurs in an online space (once again, the law moves slower than technological innovation). Thus, policymakers are indicating that this behavior is egregious enough to be considered punishable, but not yet egregious enough to constitute a criminal offense.
Going forward, this area will be interesting to watch in case lawmakers eventually do decide to punish these crimes criminally. Moreover, following specific lawsuits emerging from the new bill will likely bring publicity to the commonality of the crime. With this, the hope is that denying the pervasiveness of online sexual harassment will become impossible, even for policymakers. By spreading awareness on this issue, showing support for similar bills (i.e., Bumble), and therefore limiting the dispersal of unsolicited nude content, society moves the needle forward towards equitable and safe online spaces at a time when the line between online and offline spaces seems continuously blurred. Sexual Health Alliance looks forward to seeing the positive results to come from this historic California win, as well as what Wolfe Herd will steer Bumble in the right direction of next. If you’d like to further your advocacy in this region, visit Bumble’s website for more specific information on how you can advance similar bills in your state to make your voice heard.
By Emily Carriere