Swedish daily The Local reported on October 21 2009 that a Swedish teenager who allegedly sent nude photos of his ex-girlfriend to his friends, had his conviction overturned upon appeal (1.).

The Svea Court of Appeal annulled the earlier conviction for sexual harassment, reasoning in short that the girl had consented to having the photos taken, that there was no provision that prohibited the distribution of the photos, regardless of how invasive this was to the girl’s privacy.

The daily quoted the outraged mother of the girl involved as saying that the court decision "sends the signal to her and other young girls that society doesn’t care about them".
According to the mother, the girl had been "haunted by the pictures ever since they were taken, finding it hard to leave the house after having received stares from passers-by in the small village where the family lives," The Local said.

Beyond moral questions of why two 15-year-olds feel the need for a private nude photo session and whether or not the boy should have shown the photos to anyone else, let alone distribute them, the Swedish case does illustrate a fundamental problem with digital information.

I do not believe teenagers nowadays are more perverted than previous generations.

Not that long ago, photos were taken exclusively on film and had to be developed at a photolab. It is more than likely that the prospect of a grown-up handling and looking through your photos, was enough for most teenagers to not even think of taking nude photos of your 15-year-old girlfriend.

When information becomes digital, not only does that simplify production processes, creating new possibilities, it also means that distribution becomes effortless, near instantaneous, almost free of charge and impossible to control, as the music and film industries have found out.

Ultimately, we will have to rethink our relationship to this new reality, rethink ourselves, and teach our children.
Unless parents are willing to do this, there will be many more teenage boys and girls who will found out the hard way and get hurt in the process.

1. http://www.thelocal.se/22778/20091021/