Bill to ban 'cyber flashing' in Virginia fails in Senate committee

Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler, D-Virginia Beach, decided there was a problem that needed fixing after hearing what was happening to her fellow real estate agents, whose work requires publicizing a cell phone number.

Because the state already has a law against indecent exposure, she thought, there should be an equivalent ban on “cyber flashing” so women don’t have to see unsolicited photos of male genitals pop up on their screens.

“Maybe the pandemic has people bored,” Convirs-Fowler said at a Senate committee hearing Wednesday. “But regardless, we quickly found that there was no recourse for this offense.”

Her legislation making it a misdemeanor offense to send unsolicited sexual photos sailed through the House of Delegates on a 99-0 vote. But it met an abrupt end in the Senate Wednesday after legislators warned against an overbroad criminalization of nude images.

Read more: https://www.virginiamercury.com/2021/02/18/bill-to-ban-cyber-flashing-in-virginia-fails-in-senate-committee/