has spoken out about the ‘disgusting’ porn messages she has been subjected to on social media, following conducted by an online safety group.
Researchers from the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), of which Rachel is an ambassador, found that the 36-year-old Countdown co-host had been sent hundreds of unsolicited images and videos to her inbox – also known as cyberflashing.
The mathematician called for more to be done to protect women online and criticised social media sites for failing to properly regulate themselves.
‘It really makes me not want to go into my DMs at all because it’s revolting,’ Rachel said. ‘It’s astounding to know that strangers are sending porn – it empowers them to know that it’s gone to your inbox – they get off on it.’
After being given access to her account, the CCDH found one man had sent her three images and 31 videos of his penis. In 26 of the videos he can be seen masturbating, including one on to a computer displaying a photo of the broadcaster.
‘On Instagram, any old pervert can privately send you something that
should be illegal,’ she continued. ‘If they did it on the street, they’d be arrested. Teenage girls could receive this stuff while no one else knows because it’s behind closed doors. It’s invasive and disgusting.’
She added: ‘For women in the public eye, receiving a constant stream of
rude, inappropriate and even abusive messages to your DMs is unfortunately inevitable, and the fact that this happens away from the public eye, makes it all the more intrusive.
‘I just think all social media are not fit to regulate themselves, clearly. They’ve got the technology to identify that this content is revolting, but these users still have the technology to send unsolicited images to you.
‘Instagram and other platforms have a duty to keep the woman who their sites safe, but at the moment there isn’t enough being done to protect them.’
The research claimed that 90% of abuse in private messages is ignored by Instagram, despite being reported to moderators.
The report featured five female public figures sharing access to their direct messages (DMs) on Instagram to the online safety group, including Riley and Hollywood actress Amber Heard.
CCDH chief executive Imran Ahmed said in a statement: ‘Instagram has chosen to side with abusers by negligently creating a culture in which abusers expect no consequences – denying women dignity and their ability to use digital spaces without harassment.
‘There is an epidemic of misogynist abuse taking place in women’s DMs. Meta and Instagram must put the rights of women before profit.’
Cindy Southworth, Head of Women’s Safety at Meta told Metro.co.uk in a statement: ‘While we disagree with many of the CCDH’s conclusions, we do agree that the harassment of women is unacceptable.
‘That’s why we don’t allow gender-based hate or any threat of sexual violence, and last year we announced stronger protections for female public figures. Messages from people you don’t follow go to a separate request inbox where you can either block or report the sender, or you can turn off message requests altogether.
‘Calls from people you don’t know only go through if you accept their message request and we offer a way to filter abusive messages so you never have to see them.’
Metro.co.uk understands that Meta does not disable accounts over one violation of its rules but rather the user will get a strike and will not be able to send any more DMs for a set period of time.
The platform also has various tools to protect people against unsolicited DMs, including the option to only receive messages from people they follow, and hidden words, which allows users to filter out messages using certain words (for example abusive or offensive terms or emojis).
The UK government recently confirmed that it will introduce a new Online Safety Bill to make cyberflashing a criminal offence.
Rachel recently welcomed her second child, Noa, with former Strictly pro Pasha. The couple is already parents to two-year-old daughter, Maven.
