Increasing Cases of Online Non-consensual Posting of Adult male Nude Pictures and Videos in Zambia: Views from rural and urban dwellers

The internet and other digital communication platforms have almost entirely erased affinity and use of the snail mail. As societies get immersed in the use of these technologies, reality sink in that the internet and other online programmes are in fact a cradle of jaw-dropping non-consensual posting of nude photos and videos calculated to damage victims’ reputation before the wider society so that they are eternally killed socially. This negative social behaviour is rapidly gaining ground in Zambia. The problem is even of an emergency in nature. It demands extensive academic inquiry and cure because adult males who in the traditional Zambian culture are regarded as custodians and mentors of social norms and cultural values of the young generation are being exposed through non-consensual dissemination of their nude photos and videos online. Between July, 2020 and February 2021 a series of postings online of private photos and videos of adult males filled the social landscape. The objective of this study was to explore views from 30 rural and urban dwellers on this strange social behaviour. The study used a cross-sectional design with a qualitative approach. It was conducted between January and February, 2021. Using a single-interview- per participant, the study found that urbanites in Zambia were aware of what online intimacy was. The study found that adult males engaged in online intimacy for play and pleasure, or because they were caught up in an unsatisfying, boring and unhappy marriage relationships. The study also found that extortion, black mail, and revenge were the reasons for the dissemination of intimate explicit material of others without their consent.