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Several kinds of law may protect someone whose intimate image is shared without permission: criminal offences, civil claims, court orders, and rules requiring certain platforms to remove reported content. There is no single worldwide law, and the available protections depend on where the people and platforms are, what happened, and when. Consent to take or privately send an image is not necessarily consent to share it with others.
What kinds of legal protection are available?
Criminal law, civil law, and platform-removal rules do different jobs. A criminal report asks authorities to investigate a possible offence; a civil claim can seek a remedy for the person harmed; a removal rule can require a platform to act on a qualifying report. These routes may overlap, but one does not automatically guarantee the outcome of another.
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| Route | What it can do | Important limit |
|---|---|---|
| Criminal law | May allow police or prosecutors to investigate sharing, threats, or other conduct defined as an offence. | Definitions, required proof, exceptions, penalties, and effective dates vary by jurisdiction. |
| Civil law | May let the affected person seek damages, an injunction, or another court remedy. | The affected person generally brings the case; eligibility and procedure depend on local law. |
| Platform-removal rules | May require a covered service to remove qualifying content after a valid report. | These rules apply only to covered services and content; removal does not itself decide criminal or civil liability. |
Official sources may call this conduct “intimate image abuse,” “image-based abuse,” or “non-consensual intimate visual depictions.” The colloquial phrase “revenge porn” is not a reliable description of every case: the conduct can occur for many reasons and in many kinds of relationships.
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Federal civil claim
Under 15 U.S.C. § 6851, a person may bring a federal civil action over sharing an intimate image without consent if the defendant knew the person did not consent or recklessly disregarded that lack of consent. A court may order the sharing to stop and award financial losses or $150,000, as well as attorney’s fees and costs in applicable circumstances. The plaintiff may ask to proceed anonymously. This is a private lawsuit; the government does not represent the plaintiff, and limited good-faith exceptions apply. See the U.S. Department of Justice’s explanation of the federal civil law.
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Federal criminal law and platform notices
The TAKE IT DOWN Act, Public Law 119-12, was enacted on May 19, 2025. It creates federal criminal prohibitions for specified intentional online publication of non-consensual intimate visual depictions and digital forgeries, with separate provisions for adult and minor subjects and statutory exceptions. It also requires covered platforms to provide a plain-language notice-and-removal process by one year after enactment. After a valid request, a covered platform must remove the depiction as soon as possible and within 48 hours, and make reasonable efforts to identify and remove known identical copies. The Federal Trade Commission enforces the platform obligations. The Act does not replace state laws, which may offer additional remedies. Read the text of Public Law 119-12.
Examples of protections in the United Kingdom
Platform duties in force from June 29, 2026
Sections 100 and 101 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 require regulated services to operate systems for taking down qualifying reported intimate-image content and substantially identical content within 48 hours. These provisions came into force on June 29, 2026. The duty depends on a valid report by the person depicted or someone acting on their behalf, and on the service assessing the material as intimate-image content. See section 100 of the Act and the commencement regulations.
Other measures and commencement
The government’s September 30, 2026 factsheet describes additional measures concerning copying intimate images shared temporarily, supplying nudification tools, deletion orders following specified convictions, and prosecution time limits. The Act has provision-specific commencement rules, so these measures should not all be assumed to be operative on the same date. Check the relevant provision and commencement regulation for the rule that applies to a particular incident. The government’s intimate-image abuse factsheet summarizes the measures.
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Federal Criminal Code changes
Canada’s Protecting Victims Act, enacted in 2026, amends Criminal Code section 162.1. It expressly includes certain electronic or mechanical visual representations made with AI when they depict an identifiable person in a specified intimate state and are likely to be mistaken for a recording of that person. It also adds an offence for a specified threat to publish, distribute, transmit, sell, make available, or advertise an intimate image without consent, when the person acts with intent to intimidate or to be taken seriously. For a specific case, check the current consolidated Criminal Code and the applicable commencement information; enactment alone does not establish that every provision was in force on a particular date. See the Protecting Victims Act.
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Québec procedures
Québec’s guidance describes an urgent application to a Court of Québec judge or justice of the peace for an order to stop or prevent sharing. It says the law covers sharing and threats, including images made without the subject’s knowledge and deepfakes. The guidance also describes a civil damages claim, a presumption of fault that the defendant may rebut, police reporting, and victim compensation. These are Québec procedures, not a description of the law throughout Canada. Consult the Government of Québec’s guidance.
Examples of protections in Australia
Queensland
Queensland describes image-based abuse as including taking, sharing, or threatening to share an intimate image without consent. Its listed prohibited conduct includes editing someone into sexually explicit imagery and generating an AI deepfake. The government states a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment for sharing or threatening to share. Its page is a summary, not exhaustive legal advice. See the Queensland Government’s image-based abuse guidance.
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New South Wales
New South Wales criminalizes creating, sharing, or threatening to share sexually explicit images, videos, or audio without consent, including content digitally altered or generated with AI to depict someone in a sexual situation. The reforms apply to actions on or after February 16, 2026. NSW advises reporting to police; its Department of Communities and Justice says eSafety can assist with reporting and removal without requiring a police report or court proceeding. See the NSW guidance.
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Australia’s national principles recognize that responses can include criminal and civil law, alongside education, prevention, and victim support. They emphasize that protecting victims and minimizing harm are essential. Specific offences and remedies still need to be checked in the relevant state or territory. See the Attorney-General’s Department’s national principles.
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What to check if this affects you
- Identify the relevant jurisdiction. Your country, state, province, or territory may determine the offence, civil remedy, deadline, and reporting route. National rules may coexist with local laws.
- Check dates and coverage. A provision may apply only to conduct after its commencement date; a platform rule may cover only particular services and qualifying reports.
- Choose the route that fits the need. Police or prosecutors handle potential criminal offences; a civil lawyer can advise about claims or injunctions; the platform’s reporting process may address removal. These paths can be separate.
- Use local support. Contact local police, a court, the relevant regulator or platform, or a victim-support service as appropriate, and seek qualified local legal advice for a specific case.
Do not redistribute or reproduce an intimate image while seeking help. The DOJ notes that creating or privately sending an image does not, by itself, mean the person consented to it being shared elsewhere.
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