How to get a leaked intimate video or photo taken down

01The first 72 hours

1. Record every copy: URL, posting handle, date and time seen, screenshot.
2. Report each copy on the host platform, using its non-consensual imagery route.
3. Register a hash: StopNCII if you were 18 or over when it was made, Take It Down if under 18.
4. File a Google Search removal request for the same URLs. That is a separate process.
5. For silent sites, notify the registrar, the hosting provider and any CDN.
6. Start re-upload monitoring; the file usually returns under a new name.

02The evidence record

A report saying my video is on this site is closed as unactionable. One that locates the exact item, shows when it was seen and states that you are depicted and did not consent is actionable.

03Reporting is not hash-blocking

Using only one of these is the main reason material returns. A report removes a copy at a known address; a hash is a fingerprint of your file that member services match against new uploads, including copies you have never seen.

04StopNCII and Take It Down

Both are free. You pick the file on your own device, the tool computes a hash locally, and only the hash is submitted. StopNCII states hashing happens directly on your device and that it does not download your images; NCMEC states the file stays on your device.

• StopNCII.org, run by SWGfL, is for people who were 18 or over when the material was made, are depicted in it, and still hold the file.
• Take It Down, run by NCMEC, is for material made when the person depicted was under 18.
• Hash recipients are named on the StopNCII partners page: Microsoft, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, Snap, X, OnlyFans and others.

05Platform report routes

• X prohibits intimate media of an identifiable adult shared without consent, including AI-generated media. On a post: Report post, then Private or Non-Consensual Content. See the X policy.
• Meta services, TikTok, Reddit and Snap are StopNCII partners: report the post in-app and register the hash too.
• Adult tube sites have a content removal page. Keep every case number; you need them to escalate.

06Removal from Google Search

Google runs a policy for involuntary fake or real sexual imagery, covering real intimate content, Deepfake nudes you are identifiable in, and results linking your name to unrelated pornographic sites.

1. Open the Google removal form and choose the sexual imagery option.
2. List every URL you recorded; Google reviews only the URLs you submit.
3. For sexual imagery Google says it does its best to remove duplicates from Search as standard procedure, and the form lets you opt out.
4. Removal may be full, or partial, meaning the page no longer appears for searches containing your name.

07What the law requires

A US request must be in writing with a signature, enough information to locate the depiction, a good-faith statement that it is non-consensual, and contact details. In the UK, sharing or threatening to share an intimate photograph is an offence under section 66B of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, in force since 31 January 2024, carrying up to two years on indictment in its aggravated forms.

In the EU a GDPR erasure request can go to the operator; the Irish DPC describes erasure as due without undue delay. Directive (EU) 2024/1385, in force since 13 June 2024, criminalises non-consensual sharing of intimate or manipulated material and requires Member States to ensure prompt removal, including by binding orders to hosts. As a directive it binds states to legislate rather than giving you a direct claim, so check whether your country has implemented it.

08Overseas and silent hosts

1. Find the registrar through ICANN Lookup and write to the abuse address published for the domain. Under section 3.18 of the 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement, registrars must take reasonable and prompt steps to investigate and respond appropriately to abuse reports and must publish an abuse email and phone number.
2. Find the hosting or network provider behind the IP address and file with its abuse contact. The host is the party that can actually delete files.
3. If a CDN sits in front, file there. Cloudflare states that for its pass-through CDN and security services it does not host content, and that it forwards complaints to the site operator and the hosting provider and gives the host the origin IP.

Keep every reply. A record of ignored notices supports a later regulator complaint or court application.

09Re-upload monitoring

• Keep the hash registered; it is the only mechanism acting on copies you have not found.
• Monitor the titles, captions and tags you recorded, not only your name.
• Re-check removed URLs, which reappear when a site changes operator.
• Attach earlier case numbers to each new report.

10Police and lawyers

• Report to police where there is a threat, extortion, a minor depicted, or an identifiable uploader who continues.
• In Australia the statutory removal route is the regulator: report image-based abuse at esafety.gov.au.
• Instruct a lawyer for a court order against an unresponsive host, a disclosure order to identify an uploader, or a damages claim.

SARAZIM LLC handles the administrative side: evidence capture, platform reports, hash registration, search removal, host escalation and monitoring. It does not practise law and is not your legal representative.