The government has published guidance that explains to young people the law over the sharing of indecent images of children.
The move attempts to address the growing problem of young people sharing sexualised images of themselves and peers through electronic communications, such as sexting.
A recent report by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre found sexting is becoming the "norm" among young people. On average, the organisation receives one report a day of a child protection issue linked to sexting.
The guidance explains that taking, making, sharing and possessing sexualized images and "pseudo-photographs" - images created or manipulated by computer that appear to be a photograph - of anyone under the age of 18 is illegal, and outlines the punishments for breaking the law (see below).
It also defines the type of images and actions that contravene the law, and includes a series of short videos featuring young people talking about the harmful experience of viewing sexualised images of children.
Home Office guidance
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