Here’s some good news for those who have epilepsy and are young in age

For those who have other disabilities, this article might be some welcome news for you.

I know that this blog normally covers blindness specific things, but this one will cover epilepsy and other disabilities.

So, what are we talking about in this post? We’ll talk about two different things. They are:

• Epilepsy trolling
• Cyber flashing

I understand what epilepsy is, although I’ve never experienced it myself. But what we’re going to talk about here covers something that will help you better handle the web.

Here are two paragraphs of the article.

The Online Safety Act enforces new regulations regarding cyber flashing, epilepsy trolling, and other harmful activities.

Cyber flashing is the act of sending unsolicited nude photos to individuals, while epilepsy trolling is the process of sending flashing media aiming to trigger a seizure.

The punishment for these crimes is only 5 years, but since epilepsy specificly is something that can be triggered at random times, its a start.

The disability community has been calling for web sites for awhile not to have flashing video, especially when first visiting a page. The brain can work in different ways, so that could trigger a seizure which then could have other problems if not delbt with quickly.

Unfortunately, this is only affecting patrons in the United Kingdom, but something tells me that if it is successful, this could then affect other parts of the world.

This, is a hope anyway.

This can be particularly damaging as even if the person rejects the image, a photo preview can still appear on a person’s device – demonstrating the inescapable nature of cyber flashing.

Studies show that 76% of females aged from 12 to 18 have been victims of cyber flashing, according to 2020 research by Professor Jessica Ringrose.

The law was passed on January 31, 2024.

On January 31st, 2024, new laws were enacted to criminalize cyber flashing, epilepsy trolling, and other alternative offenses.

“Offenses for ‘cyberflashing’, sending death threats, and ‘epilepsy-trolling’ are written into the statute book after the Online Safety Act gained Royal Assent,” the latest press release reads.

While 5 years may not be much, you could get 5 years for sending any of the following:

• Unsolicited nude images
• Epilepsy trolling
• Death threats
• Revenge porn
• Fake news that aims to cause non-trivial physical or psychological harm

So now that we understand 1 and 2 of that list, I don’t understand what ” Fake news that aims to cause non-trivial physical or psychological harm” is because that would have to be proven I would think. Someone with more knowledge of this will have to leave me a comment on the blog or even contact me and explain it to me. I would appreciate any help in this matter!

Epilepsy trolling

One of the laws known as “Zach’s Law” relates to epilepsy trolling, where a person will send flashing images used to incite a seizure.

What inspired the campaign for this law was when an individual called Zach – who has epilepsy – was raising funds for the Epilepsy Society when trolls took to Twitter and filled the society’s profile with flashing imagery to purposely trigger a seizure.

Cyber flashing

Cyber flashing will also earn individuals jail time for soliciting sexual images via dating apps, social media, or data-sharing services.

Criminals can expect to spend two years in prison if they’re caught cyber-flashing for the purpose of sexual gratification or to cause alarm, distress, or humiliation.

Good luck enforcing this, because Social Media hasn’t really done much to protect anyone anyway, but we’ll see how this works in practice.

To read the full article, please read the Cybernews coverage: Cyber trolls face up to five years in jail and I invite your comments.

I don’t claim to understand everything, and this, I don’t. But if it is effective in the UK, than I hope it will become law in other countries where this apparently is a big problem.

Thanks so much for reading!