Internet Research and Image-Based Sexual Abuse: Ethical, Methodological, and Experiential Dilemmas

Researching online spaces presents unique ethical challenges. Traditional ethical approaches to research are not always easily transferable to online contexts and can often become restrictive. This chapter details how key online ethical dilemmas were navigated within the context of researching image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) platforms. This includes the exploration of some well-know debates around privacy and consent and how these were used to inform data collection. It also explores ethical dilemmas which are specific to IBSA research and harmful online spaces, including potential harms to both victim-survivors and researchers. The chapter calls for greater use of contextual and reflexive ethical approaches to Internet research by researchers and research ethics committees.