Prichard, JScanlan, JKrone, TSpiranovic, CWatters, PWortley, Richard2025-08-032025-08-032022Prichard, J., Scanlan, J., Krone, T., Spiranovic, C., Watters, P., & Wortley, R. (2022). Warning messages to prevent illegal sharing of sexual images: Results of a randomised controlled experiment. Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, (647). https://doi.org/10.52922/ti7855997819224785590817-8542https://hdl.handle.net/10289/17536Illegal distribution of sexual images by adults and minors is an expanding problem. We examined whether messages would dissuade men (18-32 years) from visiting a fake website offering access to free pornography to users who uploaded a sexual image of a woman. Participants seeking to enter the site (n=528) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. Group 1 went straight to the landing page. Group 2 encountered a text warning that sharing sexual images of people who appear under 18 years old is illegal; Group 3 received the same message with an accompanying animation. Sixty percent of Group 1 participants attempted to access the site, compared with 43 percent in Group 2 and 38 percent in Group 3. We argue that online messages offer a valuable strategy that can help reduce image-based abuse and the distribution of child sexual abuse material, including by minors.enThis is an open access article available at https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-06/ti647_warning_messages_to_prevent_illegal_sharing_of_sexual_images.pdf ©Australian Institute of Criminology 2022.cybercrimecrime preventionchild sexual exploitation materialJournal Article10.52922/ti785591836-220646 Information and Computing Sciences4608 Human-Centred Computing4402 Criminology4804 Law in context4805 Legal systems3 Good Health and Well Being16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions