SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, just signed into law a measure that prohibits “cyber flashing” and grants victims the ability to sue for economic and noneconomic damages. Senate Bill 53, known commonly as the FLASH Act, enters force on January 1, 2023, making California the third state in the U.S. to have such legislation on the books.
Under the law, a harmed individual from an unsolicited dick pic or nude photo can sue the sending party with proper legal recourse and be entitled to statutory damages of no less than $1,500 but no more than $30,000, as well as any punitive damages, attorney’s fee, and costs and other forms of legal relief a state court can grant.
The law also covers sexually explicit messages via SMS texting, email, or any other electronic form of communication like social media direct messaging.
“No Californian should ever be sent a sexually explicit picture or video without their consent and, when that happens, it is critical that survivors have a legal path to pursue following this technology-based sexual harassment,” said California state Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle sent Senate Bill 53 to the desk of Gov. Newsom with no opposition. Newsom made no comment about the adoption of the law.
Bumble, the online dating application with over 10 million downloads on Google Play, supported the law and takes credit for helping classify cyber flashing as a form of sexual harassment.
“The bill establishes a private right of action against any person over 18 years of age who knows, or reasonably should know, that the lewd image or video transmitted is unsolicited,” notes a recent blog post published on Bumble’s corporate site. Based in Austin, Texas, Bumble has pushed for similar measures in Texas and Virginia. Bumble also indicated that the cyber flashing legislation has been included in the controversial Online Safety Bill in the United Kingdom.
Alana Evans, the president of the Adult Performance Artists Guild (APAG) labor union, posted on social media that she is “curious” and “concerned how this could affect adult performers soliciting with their content.” She said that she is speaking with APAG members and the Free Speech Coalition to reach a consensus on Senate Bill 53 and its potential impacts on adult performers.
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Elsewhere in the world, cyber flashing is a criminal offense. Singapore has criminalized the sending of unsolicited sexual messages as a measure to crack down on sexual harassment online. Cyber flashing criminals could receive two years in prison for sending an unsolicited message or five if images are shared on the internet. Canings and fines are common in Singapore as additional sanctions.
Technology companies are also working to counter cyber flashing. The Bikini Report by Naked News published a brief video report on YouTube recently indicating that Facebook parent company Meta is working on technology to detect whether someone is sending you an unsolicited nude image or sexually charged message.
‘Hacker’ image by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels
