Criminal offences for cyberflashing and epilepsy-trolling take effect

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The new offences have come into effect as part of the Online Safety Act, which gained Royal Assent late last year, and means criminals face up to five years in prison for engaging in a range of online abuse, trolling and predatory behaviour. The offences cover cyberflashing – the sending of unwanted sexual images – as well as sending death threats, the sharing of revenge porn, sending fake news that aims to cause substantial harm, and epilepsy-trolling – where abusers send flashing images electronically with the intention of harming people with epilepsy. “Our pioneering Online Safety Act is already setting a global standard, and pivotal protections like these will keep sick individuals off our streets and unable to endanger Brits online.” Under the new offences, abusers and ex-partners who share, or threaten to share, intimate images on or offline without consent will face up to six months in prison for the base offence of sharing such an image, rising to two years if it is proven the perpetrator also intended to cause distress, alarm or humiliation, or to obtain sexual gratification. While sending death threats or threatening serious harm online will carry a prison sentence of up to five years under a new threatening communications offence.