Dictionary

cyberflashing en · NOUN

Etymology

From cyber- + flashing.

Meanings

1. (qualifier:crime, uncountable) The unsolicited sending of sexually explicit pictures of oneself to another person by means of a computer or telecommunication network.
   • It covers Davies’s experiences in the digital world – that includes cyberflashing such as all those unsolicited dick pics – as well as the widespread use of her images on pornography sites, escort services, dating apps, sex chats (“Ready for Rape? Role play now!” with her picture alongside it). 2025 April 30, Anna Moore, “‘I don’t date at all now’: one woman’s journey into the darkest corners of the manosphere”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • For years, the Law Commission has been advising the government to plug this gap in legislation – a chasm between how we punish real-world behaviours and the same behaviour online – by introducing a specific cyber-flashing offence. 2023 April 19, Sophie Gallagher, “Cyber-flashing is just as damaging as the ‘real world’ equivalent. When will the law catch up?”, in The Guardian:
   • For many people of a certain age, particularly women, cyberflashing has become yet another cost of existing on the internet. 2022 June 13, Valeriya Safronova, “The Fight to End ‘Cyberflashing’”, in The New York Times:

Forms