A increasing number of people with epilepsy have said they are having seizures which were triggered by flashing images on social media.
The Epilepsy Society wants the government’s new plan to tackle “online harms” to recommend warnings about flashing images on social media. More than 18,000 people in the UK are thought to have epilepsy that is triggered by photosensitivity. The charity says that some cyber-bullies will post the content intentionally.
The Epilepsy Society said that anyone who is found guilty of posting harmful images intentionally should be prosecuted for assault.
Facebook said it has “strict policies in place to help people who encounter abusive behaviour”.
Unlike TV programmes, social media sites do not have to give a warning when potentially harmful flashing images are about to appear. According to the Epilepsy Society said around 2,000 people in the UK have photosensitive epilepsy where seizures are triggered by flashing lights or contrasting, fast-moving images. This condition is more likely in children and young people.
Epilepsy Society chief executive Clare Pelham said many Facebook and Instagram (in particular) users shared videos with potentially dangerous content without realising the risk they posed.
“However, when it comes to deliberately targeting people with epilepsy with the intention of causing a seizure… we need to call that behaviour what it is – a pre-meditated and pre-planned intention to assault,” she said.
“The government must bring this behaviour within the reach of the criminal law.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said: “We will place a legally binding duty of care on companies towards their users, overseen by an independent regulator who will set clear safety standards.
“We are currently consulting on this, and want to hear from the Epilepsy Society, and others, about what steps they would like to see platforms take to make the internet a safer place.”
