TV personality Georgia Harrison will tell MPs about the horrors of so-called “revenge porn” this week.
The Love Island star is now one of Britain's highest-profile campaigners against the publication of intimate images online without the consent of those involved.
She gained national attention for the issue when she waived her right to anonymity during the prosecution of her ex-partner, Stephen Bear.
Intimate CCTV footage of the couple in their garden, recorded without their knowledge, was uploaded to the Onlyfans website.
Bear was found guilty of voyeurism and disclosing private sexual images with intent to cause distress in 2022. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison, of which he served 10 and a half months, and was given a confiscation order for £22,305 in March. .
This Wednesday, Ms Harrison will testify before the Westminster Women and Equalities committee. MPs will also question Keily Blair, CEO of Onlyfans.
Harrison, known for appearing on The Only Way is Essex, has said that unauthorized sharing of intimate images “makes you feel completely worthless” because “people look at you and feel sexual gratification with you and that is completely out of place.” of the control of it.”
MPs will also hear from David Wright, director of the UK Center for a Safer Internet.
He wants the law to be toughened “to ensure that any intimate images shared without consent are blocked from being viewed online.”
Blaming a “gap in the legal system”, he said that “on the UK Revenge Porn helpline alone, there are currently 30,000 URLs containing intimate content shared without consent that we cannot remove.”
But a government spokesperson said that when all the Online Safety Act measures come into force, this will “require sites to block access to websites hosting illegal non-consensual intimate images if ordered to do so by a court via Ofcom's powers,” adding: “We are also cracking down on abusers who share intimate images of someone without their consent, giving police and prosecutors the powers they need to bring these cowards to justice.”
Companies could face fines of up to £18 million or 10 per cent of global revenue.
The Government said last year that one in seven women and one in nine men aged 18 to 34 had faced “threats about sharing intimate images”, and police recorded “more than 28,000 reports of sharing sexual images”. private without consent” between April 2015 and December 2021.
An Onlyfans spokesperson said: “We are delighted to have been invited to the committee to share our innovative work and expertise in online safety. “We look forward to discussing the steps that all social media companies can and should take to better protect people from the sharing of non-consensual intimate images.”