Intimate Images Shared Without Your Consent: How to Get Them Removed

If intimate images of you have been shared without your consent, it is not your fault, and you have more options than it may feel like right now. Platforms, search engines and specialist organisations all have processes built for exactly this, and many of them work quickly.

This guide goes through what to do, in order. It applies whether the images are real or fake (deepfakes and AI-generated nude images count too), and whether they were shared by an ex-partner, a stranger, or someone threatening you.

Step 1: Save evidence before anything is removed

It feels wrong to keep a record of something you want gone, but evidence makes every next step easier, including getting the images taken down and taking legal action later.

• Take screenshots showing the image or post, the account that shared it, the website address, and the date. Belgium's Institute for the Equality of Women and Men specifically recommends making the platform name and date visible.
• Copy the links (URLs) of every page where the images appear. Most removal forms ask for them.
• Keep any messages from the person who shared them, especially threats.

Store these somewhere private. If looking at the images is too much, ask someone you trust to help collect the links.

Step 2: Report the images to the platform

The fastest removals usually come from the platform itself. Social networks, messaging apps and adult sites almost all prohibit intimate images shared without consent and have a reporting option for it. Look for a report option on the post or profile, and choose the category for non-consensual intimate content or nudity rather than a general one.

If the platform operates in the EU, the Digital Services Act requires it to give you an easy way to report illegal content and to tell you what it decided and why. Our guide to reporting illegal content under the DSA explains what to include so your report can't be ignored.

Step 3: Stop the images spreading with StopNCII

StopNCII.org is a free tool run by a UK charity. It works like this:

1. You select the intimate images or videos on your own device.
2. StopNCII creates a digital fingerprint (a hash) of each one, on your device. The images themselves are never uploaded.
3. Only the fingerprints are shared with partner platforms, which then look for matching images and block or remove them.

Its partners include Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, Reddit, Snap, X, Bluesky, Microsoft's Bing, OnlyFans, Pornhub and others. Google announced in September 2025 that it would also start using StopNCII's fingerprints in Search.

A few rules apply. You must be the person in the images, you must be 18 or over in them, and the images must be intimate (nude or sexual). StopNCII only covers its partner platforms, and it protects against future uploads. Images that are already online still need to be reported (Step 2). You can withdraw your case at any time.

Step 4: Remove the images from Google search

Google has a dedicated request for removing explicit or intimate images of you from its search results. It covers images where you're nude, in a sexual act or in an intimate state, whether real or fabricated, and results that wrongly link your name to pornographic content. You or a representative can make the request.

You'll need the links to the pages and screenshots of the content. If Google approves it, the results disappear entirely or stop appearing for searches that include your name. Google also tries to remove duplicates.

Google can only change its own search results; the images stay on the website itself. Our guide to removing photos of yourself from Google covers the request and Google's other removal tools.

Step 5: Get help from a specialist organisation

You don't have to do this alone. These organisations help with removal and support, for free:

• Netherlands: Helpwanted, part of the Offlimits foundation. In July 2025, the Dutch regulator ACM made Offlimits an official "trusted flagger" under the Digital Services Act, which means platforms must handle its removal reports with priority.
• Belgium: the Institute for the Equality of Women and Men helps victims get images removed and advises on next steps. It asks for a link to the account that shared the images and a screenshot showing they were distributed, and it never acts without your consent.
• Under 18: use Take It Down instead of StopNCII, and contact Child Focus in Belgium or Helpwanted in the Netherlands.
• Elsewhere in the EU: national police and victim support services can point you to the specialist service in your country.

Step 6: Consider reporting it to the police

Sharing intimate images without consent is a crime in many European countries. Belgium tightened its law in May 2020. At EU level, Directive 2024/1385 on combating violence against women requires every member state to make it a criminal offence to share intimate images without consent, including sexual deepfakes and threats to share. Member states have until 14 June 2027 to put this into national law.

Bring the evidence from Step 1. A police report can also help with platforms that are slow to act.

Step 7: Check where else your face appears

Images shared on one site are often copied to others, sometimes without your name, so searching by name won't find them. A face search can. Protevio searches public websites, including adult platforms, by face. You can use it to find copies you didn't know about, collect the links for your reports, and set face alerts so you hear about new uploads quickly. Protevio doesn't search social networks or private messages, so keep reporting those directly to the platform.

You did nothing wrong by trusting someone. The person who shared the images without consent is the one who broke the law.

Sources: StopNCII: how it works, partners and FAQ; Google and StopNCII (September 2025); Google's removal policy; ACM trusted flagger decision for Offlimits; Institute for the Equality of Women and Men; Belgian law of 4 May 2020; Directive (EU) 2024/1385 summary. Checked October 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions