Dangers of Sexting

The dangers of sharing explicit material

One of the common regrets that is regularly shared in our student survey is that of young people saying they wish they hadn’t sent or shared private photos/videos online. This is mostly due to the permanent nature of the internet and the private level of the content floating around online.

Sexting tends to be the leading catalyst for revenge porn amongst young people, the result being sensitive and personal material being displayed publicly online as a form of payback.

Sexting

The overexposure and sexualisation of media has largely contributed to the normalisation of young people carelessly sending both semi and fully nude images.

These acts almost always result in trouble, embarrassment and regret from both parties involved in the process.

Revenge Porn

Most sexting images are sent between two people who are in some form of intimate relationship. When/if the relationship doesn’t work out, if one of the parties involved has private material from the other party that they refuse to delete or worse yet threaten to show others/share online. This is classed as “Revenge Porn” and carries multiple offences and outcomes including in some cases sexual criminal record, youth detention and even jail time.

Under 18 file sharing

Regardless of whether sexting takes places within a consensual relationship, if either persons involved are under the age of 18, it is considered to be child-exploitive material and as a result, an illegal act.

- By sending these types of images or video, you can be charged with the production of Child-exploitive material (CEM).

- By receiving these images and not deleting them or worse yet, showing them to other people. You can be charged with distribution of CEM.

These are serious offences that result in sexual charges on your criminal record. A record that can dramatically affect your future studies and career options. Contrary to popular belief, sexual criminal records do not disappear when you turn 18, but in fact carry-over to your adult record.

Physical Copy Vs Digital Copy 

There is no difference in the eyes of the law in regards to the severity of possessing either physical or digital copies of under age material, both are illegal. Please, if you have images of this nature in your possession, you need to delete them immediately. Also, if there are others that have illegal images of you and refuses to delete them, contact E-safety and they will assist in the removal process. 

- If you’re under the age of 18, never send nude or semi nude photos to anyone

- If your over the age of 18, think about what happens if this relationship doesn’t work out. What are the possible long term effects of someone having personal images of you on their phone?

- If someone else has photos of you that you do not wish to, ask them to delete the images immediately. If they refuse to comply with your request, contact E-safety to pursue further action.

I don’t communicate this to scare anyone, but rather to make sure everyone is on the same level of acknowledging that this stuff happens all the time and that we should only ever send text messages, pictures and videos that we would be okay being released for the whole world to see.