IMAGINE YOU ARE A MEMBER of a private WhatsApp group. One day a friend sends you a picture of an extreme pornographic act, let’s say fisting. You send a reply making a jokey remark but think little more of it.
Some months later your phone is seized by the police as part of a criminal investigation concerning your workplace. Nothing comes of it, but they find that picture — and charge you with possessing an “extreme pornographic image,” as a so-called consolation prize offence. You go to court. You’re cleared, but your life lies in ruins.