Setting Foundational Boundaries

Many people think that setting boundaries has to be limited to romantic situations online. But practicing digital consent can be as simple as asking your online friends about:

When first meeting someone online, discussing expectations early on ensures that both of you feel safe and that no one is violating the other’s boundaries.

The Sext Talk

Like IRL consent, digital consent in romantic situations is crucial. There are times the tone of the conversation will change from friendly to romantic to straight up sexual. If the person initiating the conversation has not asked for your comfort level advancing to these stages, then they are not practicing digital consent.

These violations equate to digital sexual harassment. If you or a friend have experienced this, it’s important to know there are ways to get help.

How can I practice digital consent?

Getting digital consent is important every time. If someone agrees to something before, they can revoke their consent at any time if they aren’t comfortable agreeing to it anymore. 

This makes digital consent seem like a big task every time, but incorporating it into your online friendships doesn’t have to be hard.

Friendly reminder: always respect “No” as an answer. 

If you’ve done your part setting boundaries and the person does not respect it, you should feel empowered to block or report them. 

Need more help practicing digital consent? Explore our other digital mindfulness resources.