An honest map of the routes to remove intimate images from the internet — deepfakes, AI-generated nudes and leaked content — what each one covers and where it stops.
There is no button that cleans the whole internet. Removing non-consensual intimate images — real or AI-generated — works platform by platform, and each route has a limit. Covered platforms must act within 48 hours under the U.S. Take It Down Act, and we can file that request as your authorized representative. Google and Bing can drop results from search, but the page itself stays online. Rogue offshore sites ignore most rules. Re-uploads need new reports. Nobody can promise that every copy disappears; this page explains what each route can and cannot do.
If someone shared intimate images of you without consent — real photos, a deepfake or an AI-generated nude — it is not your fault, and much of it can be reported and taken down. But removal is not one action. Every platform, search engine and website answers to different rules, and some answer to none.
Anyone who promises that every copy will disappear is promising something no one controls. What can be done is to use the right route for each place the content appears, keep a record, and report again when it comes back. The table below is the map we use to review a case.
| Route | What it covers | Its limit |
|---|---|---|
| Take It Down Act, with Traqeer filing as your authorized representative (section 3(a), Public Law 119-12) | Covered platforms must remove reported non-consensual intimate images — including AI-generated ones that are indistinguishable from a real image — as soon as possible and no later than 48 hours after a valid request | Only covered platforms: public sites and apps built mainly on user uploads. For copies, the law asks only for reasonable efforts on known identical ones. It does not reach operators who ignore U.S. authorities |
| Google's form for personal sexual content | Removes the reported URLs from Google Search, fake sexual images included; Google says it does its best to find and remove duplicates | Only de-indexes: the page stays online and can still be reached through a direct link or other search engines |
| Bing / Microsoft report of non-consensual intimate imagery | Removes reported results from Bing; Microsoft's policy covers real and synthetic images | Automatic matching compares against images already fingerprinted, so a new AI-generated variant may not match and usually needs a manual report. It also only de-indexes |
| Platform rules (Meta, X, TikTok, Reddit, adult sites) | Each platform's own policies against intimate images shared without consent and against impersonation | Discretionary: each platform decides and sets its own pace. Rogue offshore sites ignore them |
| Copyright notice (U.S. law) | Content copied from photos or videos whose copyright you own | Does not apply to an image generated 100% by AI of someone who never published that material — see below |
| FTC complaint (U.S.) | Covered platforms that fail to act on a valid Take It Down Act request | It enforces the platform's duty and can lead to penalties; it does not remove the image for you |
This is where the most can be done. Large platforms that serve the public and host user uploads are generally covered platforms under the Take It Down Act, whose removal duty has applied since May 19, 2026. A valid request starts the 48-hour clock, and the platform's own rules add a second route. Limit: the duty covers the reported image and reasonable efforts on known identical copies, not every crop, edit or new AI version. Adult sites built on user uploads may be covered too; sites that pre-select their own content may not.
Taking a result out of Google or Bing is often the fastest relief, because the content stops showing up when someone searches your name. Google accepts requests from the person depicted or their representative and covers fake sexual images as well as real ones. Limit: both only de-index. The page stays on the site, and anyone with the direct link can still open it.
Some sites exist to host this material and sit outside the practical reach of U.S. or local authorities. They ignore platform rules and most legal requests. What still helps: removing their pages from Google and Bing, so they are much harder to find, and reporting the site to its hosting provider, which may or may not act. Limit: the content can stay on the site itself. Here the honest goal is less visibility, not deletion.
Content that spreads tends to come back. The Take It Down Act asks platforms for reasonable efforts on known identical copies, Google says it tries to find and remove duplicates when it approves a request, and new copies can be reported as they appear. Limit: an edited or newly generated version counts as new content and needs a new report.
StopNCII.org creates a digital fingerprint (a hash) of intimate images so participating platforms can block re-uploads. It also works for AI-generated images, as long as the image is of you, you have access to the file, it is intimate and you were over 18 in it. Only the person in the image can submit it.
The DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) is the U.S. system for copyright takedowns. It protects the owner of a creative work — usually whoever took the photo or made the video — not the person who appears in it.
Under the Take It Down Act, a covered platform's failure to reasonably comply with the removal duty is treated as a violation of an FTC rule, with civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation. You can file a complaint at takeitdown.ftc.gov. Knowingly publishing intimate images without consent, or threatening to, can also be a federal crime under the Act: threats or demands for money belong with law enforcement. Outside the U.S., local laws may add routes of their own. More in our guide to the Take It Down Act.
We review your case, tell you plainly which routes apply and which don't, and file the formal requests: to platforms, to Google, and under the Take It Down Act as your authorized representative once you sign a separate authorization after the review. Where a report has to come from you, as Microsoft's may, we help you prepare it.
Minors. If the person affected is under 18 — or the images are from when they were — Traqeer cannot take the case. Use Take It Down by NCMEC: it is free and is for images taken before the age of 18.
Take It Down (NCMEC) is a tool for minors; the Take It Down Act is the U.S. law that requires platforms to remove non-consensual intimate images of adults.
Support and reporting:
Emotional crisis: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — 988: call, text or chat, 24/7 (U.S.). Outside the U.S., call your local emergency number.
These organizations are independent from Traqeer.
If you want us to look at your case, tell us what happened. If it just happened, start with what to do in the first hours. For deepfake videos and fake profiles, see removing deepfakes.
No, and nobody can honestly promise it. Removal works platform by platform: covered platforms under the Take It Down Act, search engines and each site's own rules. Rogue sites may ignore every request; there the realistic goal is to take their pages out of search results.
No. Google's form removes the URL from Google Search only, and Google itself notes the content may still exist on the web. To take it down at the source, the request has to go to the platform or site that hosts it.
It can, if the content is on a platform covered by U.S. law: the duty falls on those covered platforms, and we check in the review whether it applies to your case. It does not reach sites that ignore U.S. authorities, and local laws in your country may add other routes.
No. Traqeer is not a law firm and does not represent anyone in court. We file administrative removal requests — including Take It Down Act requests as your authorized representative under section 3(a), which is not legal representation. A lawyer makes sense when you know who did it and want to act against them, want to claim damages, want to file or follow a criminal complaint, or need a court order against a site that ignores every request.
Never. We do not ask for them and do not accept them. Links to where the content appears and a short description, with no graphic details, are enough to review the case.
Traqeer cannot take the case. Use Take It Down by NCMEC: it is free and is for images taken before the age of 18.
Traqeer is not a law firm and this information is not legal advice; for your specific case, talk to a professional in your jurisdiction.
Last updated: September 28, 2026.
