Love Island star Amy Hart felt 'violated' after being bombarded with 'cyberflashing' online
18 April 2023, 15:57
Ex-Love Island star Amy Hart has revealed how she was bombarded with cyberflashing after leaving the show, which made her feel "vulnerable and violated".
Ms Hart, who starred on the show in 2019, said she suddenly had one million followers on Instagram, leaving her exposed to people sending unsolicited nude pictures alongside "graphic sexual messages".
She would also be tagged in pictures of people exposing themselves, which she would accidentally click on at random.
"They would tag a lot of people in the public eye," she told LBC's Shelagh Fogarty.
"So then, when we accidentally view them going through our story mentions, they then have a list of people who have seen that picture."
There is a disconnect between cyber flashers and what they send because it is online, Amy Hart says
"It makes you feel really violated and it's taking that choice away from you, but also it has given them real power...they have basically forced you to see it," she added.
Ms Hart is backing a campaign that calls for men who cyber-flash to be prosecuted for sending nude images without consent.
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Campaigners have criticised the government's new Online Safety Bill, which they argue does not go far enough in protecting recipients of unsolicited nude pictures.
Rather than being based on consent, the new legislation will be based on harmful intent.
This could mean that those who send unsolicited nude pictures could avoid prosecution by saying it was a joke.
Ms Hart, dating site Bumble and the UN Women UK group are among campaigners calling on the government to go further in protecting those who receive the images.
Speaking about she attempts to protect herself in the meantime, Ms Hart said she has heeded advice from her mum to never share her location when she is alone.
"I have never given out my address online but it's not hard to find where I live.
"It's made me think a lot more about if I go on my Instagram and I'm like 'my boyfriend is out at darts tonight so I'm just sitting watching TV on my own' - I'm really careful."
She added: "It makes you feel really vulnerable."
