Finding an intimate photo or video of yourself online that you never agreed to share is frightening, and it can feel like nobody has to answer you. Since May 19, 2026, a federal law requires many platforms to act on your request within a deadline. This page explains what the TAKE IT DOWN Act requires, what your request has to include, and where to report a platform that ignores you. Every point comes from the law's text on congress.gov or from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), read on October 26, 2026.
This page is general information, not legal advice. LeakVoid is not a law firm.
What the law is
The TAKE IT DOWN Act is S.146 in the 119th Congress. Congress.gov lists its latest action as "05/19/2025 Became Public Law No: 119-12." It does two main things:
- Section 2 makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish intimate images of a person, real or digitally faked, in the situations the law describes, and to threaten to do so.
- Section 3 requires covered platforms to run a notice and removal process. The FTC enforces this part.
The removal rule for platforms
Section 3 gave covered platforms one year from the law's enactment to set up a process. The FTC says it enforces "Section 3 of the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which set a May 19, 2026, deadline".
Once a platform gets a valid request through that process, the law says it must, "as soon as possible, but not later than 48 hours after receiving such request":
- "remove the intimate visual depiction"; and
- "make reasonable efforts to identify and remove any known identical copies of such depiction."
The FTC's guidance for businesses adds that "People who file a request to remove an intimate image do not need to report duplicate images." The FTC also says the law "applies to real images, digitally altered images, and deepfakes created with artificial intelligence."
What your request must include
The law lists four things a request must include, in writing:
- "a physical or electronic signature" of the person shown, or of someone authorized to act for them;
- "an identification of, and information reasonably sufficient for the covered platform to locate," the image or video;
- "a brief statement" that you have "a good faith belief" that it is not consensual, with any relevant information that helps the platform see it was published without your consent; and
- "information sufficient to enable the covered platform to contact" you, or the person acting for you.
Platforms must show a "clear and conspicuous notice" of their process, "easy to read and in plain language". Look for it in the platform's help pages or report menu. The FTC tells businesses that the protections "are not limited to individuals who hold an account on your platform", so you should not need an account to ask.
Which platforms it covers
The law defines a covered platform as a website, online service or app "that serves the public" and that "primarily provides a forum for user-generated content", or that makes a business of publishing or hosting intimate images shared without consent. The FTC's examples include "social media, messaging, image or video sharing, and gaming platforms."
Some services are excluded, including broadband internet providers and "Electronic mail." Sites made mainly of content the provider itself picks, rather than users, where any chat or comment features are only incidental, are also excluded unless they are in the business of hosting intimate images shared without consent.
If a platform does not act
The FTC runs a reporting site at TakeItDown.ftc.gov. Its consumer page says: "You can report a platform that doesn't take down a nonconsensual intimate image (or identical copies) within 48 hours of your request. You can also report a platform if you can't find their removal request process or if it's broken."
The FTC also says it "does not resolve individual consumer reports". Reports feed its investigations. To report the person who shared it, the FTC points you to local police and the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. For an image of anyone under 18, the FTC points you to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline.
Work you sold or posted for subscribers
Many creators ask whether this law covers paid work that someone copied and reposted without permission. The law does not answer that directly. Here is what its text says.
- The removal process (Section 3) covers an intimate image or video of you that "was published without the consent of the identifiable individual." It does not exclude work you sold. The law defines consent as "an affirmative, conscious, and voluntary authorization". Each platform decides first whether a request is valid, and the FTC enforces the process.
- The criminal part (Section 2) is narrower. For real images of adults, it applies only if, among other conditions, "what is depicted was not voluntarily exposed by the identifiable individual in a public or commercial setting". Work sold on a subscription site may count as exposed in a commercial setting.
- The law also says that agreeing to the creation of an image, or sharing it with someone, "shall not establish" consent to publishing it. That rule is written into the criminal part.
A removal request must include your good-faith statement that the image was not published with your consent. Make that statement only if it is true for you. For advice about your own situation, talk to a lawyer.
For copies of work you made and own, a copyright takedown notice under the DMCA is a separate route that does not depend on that question. Our guide on how to send a DMCA takedown notice walks through it, and you can ask Google to drop the links from search results too.
How the two routes differ
| TAKE IT DOWN Act request | DMCA takedown notice | |
|---|---|---|
| What it rests on | The image is intimate and was published without your consent | You own the copyright in the work |
| Who it goes to | A covered platform, through its own process | The site, its host, or a search engine |
| Deadline in the law | 48 hours after a valid request | No fixed number of hours. A host that wants to keep its legal safe harbor must respond "expeditiously" (17 U.S.C. 512(c)(1)(C)) |
Where LeakVoid fits
LeakVoid handles copyright takedown notices. It does not file TAKE IT DOWN Act requests for you. You send us links to copies of your work posted without your permission. We draft the takedown notices. You review them and sign the ones you want sent. Then LeakVoid sends them and shows whether each link is still up. Sites that only take their own web form get a ready-to-file packet instead. Nothing is sent before you sign. Nobody can promise removal.
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How this page is made
Every legal point quotes the law's text on congress.gov, the FTC's own pages or the copyright statute (17 U.S.C. 512), read on October 26, 2026. More in our editorial policy and all our guides.