Non-Consensual Intimate Image Distribution: Laws and Takedowns

Sharing someone’s nude or sexual images without their permission is now a federal crime, a crime in all 50 states, and the basis for a federal lawsuit that can recover up to $150,000. The laws against non-consensual intimate image distribution give the person depicted several overlapping options: criminal charges through police or federal prosecutors, a civil suit for money damages (which can be filed under a pseudonym), and fast removal demands to the platforms hosting the content and the search engines indexing it.

The Federal Crime: TAKE IT DOWN Act

Signed into law in May 2025, the TAKE IT DOWN Act is the first federal criminal statute aimed directly at non-consensual intimate imagery. It covers both real photographs and AI-generated deepfakes, and it applies to anyone who knowingly publishes an intimate image of an identifiable person, without consent, on any online platform.¹

Penalties depend on who is depicted and whether the content was shared or only threatened:

Publishing images of an adult: up to two years in federal prison, a fine, or both.
Publishing images of a minor: up to three years, a fine, or both.
Threatening to publish authentic images: the same penalty as actually publishing them.
Threatening to publish a deepfake of an adult: up to 18 months.
Threatening to publish a deepfake of a minor: up to 30 months.

The separate penalty tier for threats matters because so many of these cases involve extortion or coercion rather than, or in addition to, actual posting.²

When Cyberstalking Charges Apply

If the images are part of an ongoing harassment campaign rather than a single incident, federal prosecutors can charge the distributor under the cyberstalking statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2261A. That law reaches anyone who uses internet or other interstate communication channels to engage in conduct that puts a person in reasonable fear of serious harm or causes substantial emotional distress to that person or their family.³

The sentencing exposure under § 2261 is far higher than under the TAKE IT DOWN Act:

No physical injury: up to five years.
Serious bodily injury or use of a dangerous weapon: up to ten years.
Permanent disfigurement or life-threatening injury: up to twenty years.
Death of the victim: life imprisonment.⁴

Prosecutors typically reserve cyberstalking charges for cases where image distribution sits inside a pattern of threatening or controlling behavior.

State Criminal Laws

Every state has its own criminal statute covering non-consensual intimate image sharing, and the specifics differ widely. A first offense is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail in some states and a felony with multi-year prison terms in others. Maximum fines run from a few hundred dollars to six figures.

Most state laws require proof of two things: that the images were shared without consent, and that the person depicted had a reasonable expectation the images would stay private. Some states additionally require proof that the distributor intended to cause harm or distress; others ask only whether the distributor knew or should have known consent was absent. A growing number of states have expanded their statutes to cover deepfakes alongside authentic images. Because classifications and penalties vary so much, the actual criminal exposure depends on where the conduct occurred or where the person depicted lives.

Suing for Damages Under Federal Law

Beyond criminal prosecution, 15 U.S.C. § 6851 gives victims their own federal lawsuit. You can sue in federal district court anyone who shared your intimate images knowing, or recklessly disregarding, that you had not consented.⁵

The damages are either your actual losses or $150,000 in liquidated damages, plus reasonable attorney fees and litigation costs. Courts can also issue temporary restraining orders and permanent injunctions ordering the defendant to stop distributing the material.

The statute includes a feature that makes it genuinely usable for people whose main concern is avoiding further exposure: the court can order confidentiality so the plaintiff proceeds under a pseudonym. You can file as Jane Doe or John Doe and keep your real name out of the public record.⁵

Other Civil Claims You Can Add

Several state-law theories can stack onto a § 6851 claim or substitute for it depending on the facts.

Intentional infliction of emotional distress reaches conduct extreme enough to cause severe psychological harm. Deliberately spreading someone’s intimate images routinely qualifies as outrageous under that standard. Public disclosure of private facts, a branch of invasion-of-privacy law, covers shared content that would be highly offensive to a reasonable person and serves no legitimate public interest. Intimate images shared to humiliate or retaliate fit the doctrine directly.

If you took the photograph yourself, copyright law adds another layer. Under 17 U.S.C. § 504, a copyright holder can elect statutory damages of $750 to $30,000 per infringed work instead of proving actual losses; for willful infringement, the court can increase the award to $150,000 per work.⁶ This route focuses on property rights rather than the sensitive content itself, and proving infringement is often simpler than proving emotional harm.

Compensatory damages are available for concrete losses like therapy bills, lost wages, and relocation costs. Punitive damages, where state law allows them, can be added to punish particularly egregious conduct. An injunction ordering the defendant to stop sharing and delete all copies rounds out the civil toolkit; violating it exposes the defendant to contempt of court.

Getting the Images Taken Down

The TAKE IT DOWN Act gives you a direct removal mechanism that did not exist before 2025. You or an authorized representative can notify any covered platform that non-consensual intimate content depicting you has been posted. The platform then has 48 hours to remove the material and must make reasonable efforts to find and remove identical copies. This applies to both authentic images and AI-generated deepfakes, and the Federal Trade Commission can treat a platform’s noncompliance as an unfair or deceptive trade practice.¹

Most major platforms also maintain their own reporting tools for intimate image violations inside their safety or help centers. After you submit a report, save the confirmation email and reference number so you can follow up. Review timelines vary but usually run a few days.

StopNCII.org is a useful additional tool. It generates a digital fingerprint, called a hash, of an intimate image without the image itself leaving your device. Participating platforms, including several of the largest social media and search companies, automatically detect content matching those hashes and block it.

If you personally took the image, you own the copyright under 17 U.S.C. § 201 the moment you created it, and you can send a DMCA takedown notice under 17 U.S.C. § 512 requiring the host to remove it to keep its safe harbor protection.⁷⁸ The U.S. Copyright Office publishes a standard notice format.⁹ Two cautions: a DMCA notice requires your real name and contact information, which the distributor can see if they file a counter-notice, and if someone else took the photo, you don’t hold the copyright and this route is closed. For most people, the TAKE IT DOWN Act process or a direct platform report is the better path.

Cleaning Up Search Engine Results

Even after the source site removes the content, cached pages and thumbnails can linger in search results. Google accepts de-indexing requests from anyone depicted in non-consensual intimate content. You submit a form listing the specific URLs, and Google can either remove the page from search results entirely or block it from appearing in searches that include your name. The policy covers both real images and AI-generated fakes, and Google also attempts to find and remove duplicates automatically.¹⁰

Bing offers a comparable removal process through its content removal page and participates in StopNCII.org, so images hashed through that service are automatically blocked from Bing results. Search engine de-indexing removes content from search results only, not from the site hosting it. You still need to pursue removal from the source separately.

Preserve Evidence Before You Report

Every remedy above depends on evidence, and content disappears quickly once a distributor realizes they may face consequences. Preserve everything first.

Take screenshots that capture the full URL in the browser bar, any accompanying captions, and visible timestamps. Metadata in the original image files, including creation date, device information, and GPS coordinates, can help establish both ownership and timeline. For digital integrity, generate a hash of each preserved file using a standard algorithm like SHA-256 and store the hash value separately from the file. That creates a verifiable record showing the file has not been altered since you captured it.¹¹

Save the distributor’s account handles, profile names, and any contact information attached to the post. Keep every text, email, or direct message where they acknowledge the private nature of the images or show awareness that you did not consent. Those records are often the strongest evidence of intent. If the distributor is anonymous, their identity can usually be pursued later through subpoenas for IP logs during civil discovery or through a law enforcement court order.

Then file a police report. The report number creates an official record that strengthens platform removal requests and supports later civil claims. Many departments have cybercrime units that handle these cases regularly, and some accept online submissions. If the images depict anyone under 18, report to the CyberTipline operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which routes the report to the appropriate investigating agency.¹²

If It Happened at a School or College

Non-consensual image distribution in an educational setting also triggers Title IX. The U.S. Department of Education recognizes sharing intimate images without consent, including AI-generated content, as conduct that can constitute sexual harassment under Title IX when it is severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive enough to deny someone equal access to education.¹³

The school’s obligation covers conduct on campus, in school-controlled buildings, on school-operated digital platforms, and in off-campus contexts where the school had substantial control over both the harasser and the setting, such as online classes and athletic programs. Once a school has actual knowledge, it must respond promptly and offer supportive measures: counseling, schedule or housing changes, campus escort services, no-contact orders, and increased security. It must also explain how to file a formal complaint, which triggers a mandatory grievance process and investigation before the school can discipline the alleged harasser. Schools that fail to respond adequately risk losing federal funding.

1
Congress.gov. The TAKE IT DOWN Act – A Federal Law Prohibiting Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery
2
GovInfo. TAKE IT DOWN Act, Public Law 119-12
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2261A – Stalking
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2261 – Interstate Domestic Violence
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 6851 – Civil Action Relating to Disclosure of Intimate Images
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 504 – Remedies for Infringement – Damages and Profits
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 201 – Ownership of Copyright
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 512 – Limitations on Liability Relating to Material Online
9
U.S. Copyright Office. Section 512 of Title 17 – Resources on Online Service Provider Safe Harbors and Notice-and-Takedown System
10
Google Search Help. Remove Personal Sexual Content From Google Search
11
National Institute of Standards and Technology. Digital Evidence Preservation – Considerations for Evidence Handlers
12
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. CyberTipline
13
U.S. Department of Education. Online or Digital Sexual Harassment Under the 2020 Title IX Regulations