Developing Responses to Sexting

While discourses around the legal response to sexting have tended to centre on the appropriateness of the application of child pornography offences, as discussed in Chapter 4, sexting is a complex behaviour that cannot be reduced to simplistic (legal, social, media) narratives. Taken in their entirety, the results of our research demonstrate that young people’s practices and motivations for sexting rarely fit the rationales for child pornography offences that so often lead debates on appropriate legal responses to sexting. Furthermore, prosecution under child pornography laws has the potential to cause more harm to young people than was caused by the original sexting behaviour. While our research shows that young people are generally aware of the potentially serious legal consequences of sexting, such legal consequences have not been enough to deter many young people from sexting. Although we cannot truly know all of the complex reasons why individuals choose to sext despite these legal risks, our findings suggest that some young people do not think that what they are doing - largely consensual sexting - is a form of behaviour that would or should be prosecuted. Beyond this, young people are more prone to take risks and act impulsively without necessarily thinking through potential future consequences. Moreover, the very risks involved (legal and reputational) may in fact incite or excite young people to engage in the practice.