The rising practice of sharing sexually explicit images or videos among youngsters, also known as ‘sexting’, poses real challenges for parents, educators and policymakers, experts have warned.
What some individuals fail to realise is that whatever is shared online is permanent
Young people enjoy the privacy and freedom that mobile phones give them from their parents or guardians. However, when they use that freedom and their mobile phones to explore their budding sexuality by sending intimate pictures of themselves to their peers, youths can potentially put themselves at great risk.
“Sexting leads to other ways of misusing other technology applications, manifesting in harmful behaviour such as cyberbullying, sexual harassment and blackmail. Such harmful behaviour can have significant impact on the victim and can be far more detrimental, in particular to his/her emotional and psychological wellbeing,” a spokesman from the Be Smart Online project explained.
Coordinated by the Malta Communications Authority, the Be Smart Online project brings together the State social support agency Aġenzija Appoġġ and the Office of the Commissioner for Children. It aims at raising awareness and educating minors, carers and educators on the safe use of the internet.
Through the national helpline, 179, Appoġġ received five cases of alleged sexting instances last year. In one particular case, a girl had sent provocative photos of herself to her boyfriend’s mobile phone. The boyfriend subsequently lost his mobile phone and after a few days, the photos were circulated on Facebook.
And while most sexting cases happen deliberately, some instances may also be accidental, such as the unintentional sending of content to the wrong person, or photos obtained from recovered mobile phones which had been lost.
“Accidental sexting is as, or more, detrimental to the victim than deliberate sexting,” the spokesman stressed.
On occasions, intimate moments may be captured and later shared, out of spite, by one of the parties following a break-up.
“One may argue that intimacy among consenting teens who are in a relationship is nothing new. What has changed is the medium used to share this intimacy, and the speed with which this can be circulated and shared.”
Technology has contributed to a sense of detachment, where individuals are less inhibited and more likely to share content they would not normally share in a face-to-face situation.
Furthermore, the act of sexting may be deemed illegal on two accounts. The act itself, the spokesman confirmed, may be considered as the creation and also as the distribution of pornography.
“What some individuals fail to realise is that whatever is shared online is permanent, with obvious repercussions should material resurface down the line. A study by the Internet Watch Foundation has found that 88 per cent of self-generated images have been collected and used on other sites.”
The risk potential is dependent on how a person sexted. If the material was directly sent to an individual, it is much easier to track and contain the problem. Conversely, if the content was published on a social network, which is designed to facilitate sharing, tracking becomes much harder.
Marilyn Clark, an associate professor at the University of Malta’s Faculty of Social Wellbeing, advises that “before a moral panic surrounding this behaviour is created, locally we need to understand the scope of this new phenomenon through research”.
This would involve measuring the prevalence and patterns surrounding such behaviour to understand how much it is engaged in, by whom and in what manner. Preliminary research suggests that the practice of sexting is very gendered, with most of the pictures in question depicting the female sex.
“Young people are actively developing their sexual identity and sexting is a new form of expression to do this,” Prof. Clark stated.
“This behaviour may hold negative current and future implications for adolescents, and should be explored and consequently addressed through the development of educational, preventive, legal and support services.”
For more information, visit www.besmartonline.org.mt.
Tips to prevent sexting
Make sure you know the people in your contact list on social networking sites such as Facebook. Ask yourself whether these people will support you if you make a mistake, or whether they will be more of a hindrance and worsen the situation.
Use your privacy settings wisely. You can limit the number of people who see your posts.
Remember that through the use of screen capture technology, which is readily available for download, one can capture and record your online conversations and web chats. Be vigilant in what you say (or do) online.
Personal accounts such as Google, Yahoo and Hotmail may be hacked. Make sure you have created a strong password and keep your password to yourself.