Meta has partnered with the Australian youth movement, PROJECT ROCKIT, to launch a campaign about online intimacy, respect, and consent aimed at young people.
Through a series of educational videos, Intimate Images Unwrapped explores and builds literacy on the dynamics of intimate image-sharing.
Intimate image abuse is defined as someone who shares or threatens to share an intimate image or video of a person without their consent
Intimate Images Unwrapped has been co-created with young people using PROJECT ROCKIT’s participatory co-design process to leverage the real experiences of 12 everyday young people aged 13–19.
Through a series of co-creation workshops, these young people generated key learning outcomes and video content, which has been artfully woven into eight short-form educational episodes.
The campaign also aims to underscore the importance of supporting young people to establish healthy boundaries, honour consent and make well-informed choices.
It also champions respect for others and leverages the resources to build safe, positive connections online.
This comes as research from the Journal of Adolescent Health revealed that almost 1 in 5 (19.3%) young persons under the age of 18 have sexted (via messages, images, or videos), while more than half this figure (14.5%) forwarded a sext without consent.
Sexting, or sending of intimate images, was also shown to increase as younger people become older, further reinforcing the need for educational campaigns to remind young people of how to stay safe online and the possible dangers and consequences of intimate image sharing – no matter your age or circumstance.
Lucy Thomas, co-founder and CEO of PROJECT ROCKIT, said the campaign series goes beyond giving the usual ‘just don’t do it’ advice typically given to young people about sharing images online.
“This exploration, we are purposefully enhancing young people’s abilities to navigate connections, self-expression, and online participation in healthy and empowering ways.”
Mia Garlick, Meta’s regional policy director, said that through the partnership, the tech company is committed to making a real difference in preventing intimate image-sharing cases online.
“By partnering with PROJECT ROCKIT, we hope to play a role in supporting and protecting young people to help everyone make well-informed choices while honouring consent and healthy boundaries for one another.”