Just 43 people were convicted of cyberflashing in 2024 since it was made illegal, according to official data.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed that there were a total of 57 prosecutions for cyberflashing tried at court in 2024, with just over 75% of cases resulting in a conviction.
Cyberflashing is the act of sending unsolicited sexual images online, this can be via social media, dating apps, and airdrop.
It was made a criminal offence on January 31 2024 as a part of the Online Safety Act 2023 and is punishable by up to two years in prison.
Another FOI submitted by Mancunian Matters to Greater Manchester Police revealed that there have been no formal charges for cyberflashing in 2025 as of May 18.
University College London Professor Jessica Ringrose conducted research on cyberflashing that helped inform the Online Safety Act. In a 2021 study, from a sample of 88 teenage girls between the ages of 12-15, she found that 75% had received unwanted images of male genitals.
Professor Ringrose welcomed the change in the law, but points to the low prosecution rate for other sexual offences and a general low awareness of cyber crimes.
She said: “If you can’t prosecute physical, actual criminal offenses like rape, what hope is there for prosecuting cyberflashing?
“I’ve spoken with police and a lot of them actually have no idea about these new cyber crimes. So when law enforcement doesn’t know about it and they don’t know how to enact the online safety bill or the criminal offenses with these new cyber laws, what kind of hope do we have of any kind of prosecution?”
Professor Ringrose is unsure if prosecutions are the way forward with cyberflashing and believes more needs to be done by the companies that dominate the online space and by the government to educate young people.
She said: “It should be about targeting the way that social media companies operate and how they provide these gateways to this kind of abuse. What are the platforms themselves doing to respond and create a safe and ethical environment for people to participate in online life.
“And having better sex education in schools for young people so they understand issues of consent. So, you know, they don’t see this behaviour so normalised on a platform and then enact it.”
Featured: Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
