Professor Clare McGlynn has welcomed new legislation in the UK aiming to reduce online harms which includes new offences and guidelines based on her research.
Working closely with politicians, civil society organisations and victims of online abuse, Prof McGlynn has helped to ensure the Online Safety Act 2023 updates laws on cyberflashing and intimate image abuse, as well as mandating action from social media platforms and the regulator Ofcom to take greater steps to reduce online violence against women and girls.
The new criminal offence of cyberflashing – sending penis images to someone without their consent – has been introduced following a campaign by UN Women, the US dating company Bumble and women’s rights organisation Refuge, supported by Professor McGlynn and based on her cyberflashing book and law reform recommendations.
The Act also brings in reforms to laws on sharing intimate images without consent, following many years of research and advocacy by Prof McGlynn and others to update the law to include distribution of deepfake pornography and outlawing ‘collector culture’.
Also included in the Act is a requirement for the regulator Ofcom to introduce Guidance on Violence Against Women and Girls to fast-track the prevention and reduction of violence against women and girls. Prof McGlynn was part of a coalition that prepared draft Guidance and worked with politicians amend the Act to extend these protections to women and girls.
