If intimate images or videos of you have been posted online without your consent, the most important thing to know is that you have real, enforceable options — and platforms, search engines, and lawmakers have gotten significantly better at responding to this specific problem in recent years. This guide covers the legitimate removal paths available to adults. If the content involves anyone under 18, skip straight to the section on that below — it is treated as a completely different, and far more urgent, category.
This is not something you have to just live with
Non-consensual intimate imagery (often called NCII, and sometimes still referred to by the outdated term “revenge porn”) is illegal in most U.S. states and many countries, and every major platform — social media, search engines, and most hosting providers — has a dedicated policy and reporting process specifically for it. You are not asking for a favor when you report this. You’re invoking a process these platforms are required, and generally willing, to act on.
Step 1: Document before you report
Before reporting anything, take screenshots of the content, the URL, the date you found it, and the account or site that posted it. Platforms often ask for this, and if you later pursue a legal route, this documentation matters. Do this quickly, but you don’t need to re-watch or study the content itself to document it — capturing the URL and a screenshot of the page (not the image itself, if that’s more comfortable for you) is generally enough.
Step 2: Use a hash-matching protection tool if the content hasn’t spread yet — or even if it has
Free hash-matching tools built specifically for this problem exist, and are worth using. They create a digital fingerprint (a hash) of the image on your own device — the actual image is never uploaded or seen by anyone — and share that hash with participating platforms, which then proactively block matching content from being posted or re-posted. This works both for images already circulating and as a preventive measure if you’re worried specific content might be shared.
Step 3: Report directly to each platform where it appears
Every major platform has a specific NCII reporting category, separate from general content reports, which routes to a specialized review team:
- Search engines have dedicated forms to request removal of non-consensual explicit imagery from search results — this removes it from search results even if the underlying page still exists elsewhere.
- Major social and messaging platforms all have specific non-consensual intimate image policies and reporting flows, typically found in their safety or help centers.
- Adult content platforms and hosting sites generally have copyright or NCII-specific takedown forms as well, even though enforcement quality varies more by site.
Report the same content everywhere it appears — a removal on one platform doesn’t remove it from others, and content like this is often re-posted or mirrored.
Step 4: File a copyright takedown notice if you own the image
If you took the photo or video yourself (a selfie, for example), you generally hold the copyright to it, which means a formal copyright takedown notice can be sent to the hosting site or its hosting provider, even if the site itself is uncooperative. This works even for sites with no real moderation team, because it goes to their web host, domain registrar, or search engines, who are legally obligated to respond to valid copyright takedown notices.
Step 5: Know your legal options
Most U.S. states now have specific civil and/or criminal statutes covering non-consensual intimate image sharing, and several countries have equivalent laws. Depending on your situation, a cease-and-desist letter from an attorney, a civil lawsuit, or a police report may be appropriate — particularly if the person who posted it can be identified, or if there’s an element of extortion involved (sometimes called “sextortion”).
If the content involves anyone under 18
This is not a reputation management or NCII situation — it is child sexual abuse material (CSAM), a serious crime, regardless of who took the image or the circumstances. It should be reported immediately to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) through their CyberTipline (CyberTipline.org) and to law enforcement. NCMEC also operates Take It Down (TakeItDown.NCMEC.org), a free tool built specifically to help remove this kind of content and prevent its re-upload, for both minors and young adults whose images were taken when they were under 18. Do not attempt to handle this through ordinary platform reporting alone — involve NCMEC and law enforcement directly.
You’re not alone in this, and it’s more fixable than it feels right now
The combination of hash-matching tools, platform-specific NCII policies, copyright law, and state-level legal protections means most non-consensual content has a real, workable removal path — even though it can take persistent, multi-platform effort. If the volume of sites and reporting flows feels overwhelming to manage while you’re also dealing with the emotional weight of the situation, that’s exactly the kind of coordinated, methodical work a reputation management team can take off your plate.