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Did someone share, or threaten to share, an intimate photo or video of you without your permission? Did this happen to your child? If that’s happened to you or someone you know, here’s information to help you decide what to do.

What Is Image-Based Abuse?

Image-based abuse is when someone creates, shares, or threatens to share, an intimate photo or video of a person without their permission, otherwise known as a nonconsensual intimate image. This involves sexually explicit photos or videos of you and shared without your consent. These intimate images may be real, digitally altered, or deepfakes created with artificial intelligence.

Harmful digital exploitation like image-based abuse or deepfakes can happen to adults and minors. The perpetrator may be motivated by anger, revenge, control, or financial extortion. For example, someone involved in a romantic relationship may want to coerce their partner to stay in the relationship. Or an ex-partner may want to retaliate against the person who ended the relationship. In other cases, the perpetrator might threaten to share someone’s intimate images to blackmail them to send money or more intimate content.

What To Do If Someone Posts Your Intimate Images Without Your Consent

Having someone share an intimate image of you online without your consent can be stressful and overwhelming. These images can spread quickly and cause real and lasting harm. If this happens to you, the first question on your mind might be how you can get it taken down.

The Take It Down Act says certain platforms — like social media, messaging, image or video sharing apps and sites — have to give you a way to ask for the image to be taken down. And they must remove the image, and known identical copies, within 48 hours of your request. The law applies to real images, digitally altered images, and deepfakes created with artificial intelligence.

Ask the platform to take it down

Only platforms can take down intimate photos and videos shared without your consent. If this happens to you, ask the platform to take it down. They have 48 hours to remove it and identical copies.

If the platform doesn’t take down the image or video within 48 hours, report it to the FTC at TakeItDown.ftc.gov. You can also report a platform if it doesn’t have a process for you to request removal of the intimate image or if its removal request process is broken.

How to ask a platform to take down a nonconsensual intimate image

The way to report an intimate photo or video may vary by platform and may depend on whether you have an account. Here's what to look for:

  • If you have an account with the platform, log in, find the intimate image, and look for an option on or near the content to report it. Often, you'll see three dots in the upper right corner of the image.
  • If you don't have an account with the platform, search the platform's help center to find out how to report an intimate image shared without your permission. (If the platform requires you to create an account to request the removal of an intimate image, report the platform to the FTC at TakeItDown.ftc.gov.)

Need help learning how to request removal from a platform?

Adults

Minors

Use the directory of social media contacts from StopNCII.org, a free global tool operated by the non-profit Revenge Porn Helpline.The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has instructions for reporting content to platforms.
 Or use NCMEC's CyberTipline to report the image.

Limit the spread online

Take steps to limit the intimate image from spreading online.

Adults

Minors

If you have a copy of the image, use StopNCII.org, a free global tool operated by the non-profit Revenge Porn Helpline.If you have a copy of the image, use NCMEC's Take It Down service.
 To report the image, use NCMEC's CyberTipline.

Report the perpetrator

Report perpetrators to local criminal law enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation:

What to do if someone is blackmailing you

If someone threatens to share an intimate image of you unless you follow their demands, here’s what to do:

  • Report it to criminal law enforcement. This is a serious crime. You can report it to your local police, as well as the FBI (tips.fbi.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI). If it involves a minor, you also can report it through NCMEC’s CyberTipline. NCMEC has trained analysts that will process the report and make it available to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
  • Ignore their demands. Don’t pay them. Don’t give them access to your financial accounts. Don’t send them any images. Don’t give them access to your devices.
  • Cut off all contact. Block the person. Ignore their messages. Stop communicating with them in any way.
  • Speak with someone you trust. Talk to a trusted friend, family member, or counselor and tell them what’s going on.

Where To Find Other Help

If you’re dealing with image-based abuse, these organizations can provide more support:

The National Domestic Violence Hotline

  • Call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
  • Chat live at thehotline.org/
  • Text “START” to 88788

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

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