JEZEBEL – When Bumble conducted a national survey in 2018, they found that 1 in 3 women have received an unsolicited nude image in their lifetime. 96% confirmed they were received without their consent. Since that survey, Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd and new Policy Director Nkechi "Payton" Iheme have quietly been leading the effort to criminalize sending nudes without consent. Bumble has also rolled out a protective feature called, Private Detector which utilizes AI to automatically blur images determined to be lewd. By March 2019, House Bill 2789, which made sending a lewd photo without the recipient's consent a Class C misdemeanor and punishable by $500, was introduced. The bill was signed into law just two months later by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Michigan, Wisconsin, and Virginia – have either advanced or successfully passed legislation that would follow Texas' suit. The FLASH (Forbid Lewd Activity and Sexual Harassment) Act recently passed California's State Senate. New York State Sen. Alexandra Biaggi has also seen her legislation – Senate Bill S4843, which would establish the unsolicited disclosure of an intimate image as a crime – move forward in both senate and assembly votes. Bumble is also reportedly urging Florida legislators to introduce similar legislation. Last month, "cyberflashing" was made illegal in England and Wales, but unlike U.S. legislation, perpetrators face up to two years in prison.
by Audra Heinrichs
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