Cyberflashing

The sending of an unsolicited sexually explicit image to another person through a digital device or platform without their consent, documented forms of which include an unsolicited image sent by text message, social media or dating app messaging, and a proximity-based variant in which an offender uses a wireless file-sharing feature, such as Apple's AirDrop, to send an explicit image directly to a nearby stranger's device, for example on public transportation, without needing the victim's phone number or any prior contact. England and Wales specifically criminalized the practice as a standalone offense under the Online Safety Act 2023, following earlier, narrower criminalization in a number of individual United States states, and researchers and advocacy organizations have documented cyberflashing as a widespread but historically underreported form of sexual harassment enabled specifically by modern proximity and messaging technology.