Jailbait images

The legal status of jailbait images is controversial. When questioned regarding their legality, legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin stated he thought it was not illegal, though legal expert Sunny Hostin was more skeptical, describing jailbait images as "borderline" child pornography which may be illegal.[4][5] While the images may be legal, they are often considered to be in poor taste.[4][6] Jailbait is amongst the list of banned hashtags at the photo-sharing website Instagram,[7][8] and the social networking website Tumblr.[9] The term is also blocked on Google Instant.[10] Jailbait images have been defended on the grounds of free speech,[11] and have also been defended on the grounds they are similar to mainstream sexualized images of minors, such as those in the music video for "...Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears, who was 16 years old at the time of filming.[3] Jailbait images are often collected directly from girls' Facebook pages.[12]

Numerous webpages and forums are devoted to jailbait images. As well as uploading and sharing images, popular discussion topics at jailbait communities include ephebophilia, the difference between ephebophilia and pedophilia, and debating whether images of certain girls are too young or old to be classified as jailbait.[13] Vice magazine commented on the lack of attention the press paid to the role popular jailbait image boards had on the suicide of Amanda Todd.[14] An individual who was alleged to be harassing Todd prior to her suicide was tracked down by posts and images he uploaded to jailbait forums on the Internet. They also describe online jailbait communities as "a very insidious force on the Internet that is pitting overly clever pedophiles against insecure teenagers."[14] They have also been said to "offer a window into a disturbing mindset."[13] Self-identified pedophiles can be found in jailbait communities.[13]

• Child erotica
• COPINE scale
• Junior idol
• Lolicon
• Nude depictions of youth