What if There Were One Less Thing to Worry About Online?

NEW YORK TIMES - Payton Iheme, the head of public policy for Bumble, is working to advance legislation that penalizes "cyberflashing," or the act of sending unwanted sexual images.Payton Iheme's wide-ranging career has taken her from collecting intelligence in the Army to advising the White House on science and technology. As Bumble's head of public policy, Ms. Iheme has found a cause that synthesizes her past experiences. A YouGov poll in Britain found that 40% of millennial women have received an unsolicited photo of male genitalia. Working with Bumble, Virginia recently passed a law that entitles a recipient of an unwanted lewd image to $500 in damages. In Wisconsin, State Senator Melissa Agard, a Democrat, worked with Bumble to introduce an anti-cyberflashing bill in January. It was not voted on in this session, but she said she will push the bill again in January. Bumble began pushing for anti-cyberflashing legislation in 2019 in Texas. With each state that Bumble enters, Ms. Iheme and her team have to reintroduce the concept of cyberflashing, explain what it means, find stakeholders to partner with and figure out how to frame the legislation for the local voters. Nima Elmi, who oversees public policy for Bumble in Europe, said that the United States poses particular challenges to getting laws passed.