The new law making so-called ‘cyberflashing’ a priority offence under the Online Safety Act 2023 came into force on 8 January 2026.

We previously commented on the Government’s intention to designate cyberflashing as a priority offence here. It is one of several new priority offences that the Government has introduced, including content that encourages or assists serious self-harm and the depiction of strangulation in pornography.

The change means that regulated services under the Online Safety Act 2023 will be required to take proportionate measures to prevent users from encountering unsolicited nude images, and to have proportionate systems in place to minimise the length of time during which such content remains on their platforms.

Ofcom will shortly launch a consultation on the steps that platforms will be required to take to protect users from encountering such content.

Commenting on the new law coming into effect, the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence against Women and Girls, Jess Phillips, said: “for too long cyberflashing has been just another degrading abuse women and girls are expected to endure. We are changing this. By placing the responsibility on tech companies to block this vile content before users see it, we are preventing women and girls from being harmed in the first place.  We will deploy the full power of the state to make this country safe for women and girls, both online and offline”.

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