English
EspañolHow can I find websites where my image is posted online?
Even if you know that the abuser has posted an intimate image of you online, you may not know where the abuser has posted your image. Or you may know of one website where the image was posted, but it is also possible that the abuser has posted the image in other places that you do not know about. It will be important to find out if there are any other websites where the abuser may have posted the image if you want your image removed from those websites. You can search for other places a specific image may be posted online by using a reverse image search on Google.
If you are on a computer:
- You can search using an image on these computer browsers: Chrome 5+; Internet Explorer 9+; Safari 5+; Firefox 4+.
- Find the website where your image appears, right-click on the image and select Copy image URL.
- On images.google.com or any images results page, click the camera icon in the search bar.
- Paste the URL into the search box.
If you are on a phone, you can use the Chrome app on an Android phone, iPhone, or iPad:
- Using the Chrome app, find the website where your image appears.
- Press and hold the image. In the box that appears, touch Search Google for this image. You might need to touch the image once to enlarge it on certain devices.
If the image exists in other places, you will see a list of those places in the search results. It will be important to document these in case this is needed for reporting it to the police or the courts. You can take a screenshot of the results and then go to each website and take a screenshot of each one. Each website will have its own take-down policy. Most take-down policies can be found in the “terms of service” language on the website. There may even be specific instructions for you to follow on how to make a request to have your image removed from the website. If there aren’t any instructions or a take-down policy, there may be other ways you can get your images removed.
How can I get my images removed if the abuser posted them online?
If you are featured in the photo or video that was posted and you took the photo or video yourself and sent it to the abuser, there may be a legal strategy involving the copyright of your images that you can use to try to get them removed from online. Generally, the person who takes a photo automatically owns the copyright to that image. However, even if the abuser took the photo or video and the copyright belongs to him/her, the person who is featured in the photo or video may also be able to apply to register the copyright to that image under his/her own name. In other words, another way that a person can handle having sexual images of themselves posted without his/her consent is to apply to register the copyright to that image under their own name even before the photo or video is ever posted. Then if the abuser posts the image publicly, you would own the copyright and can file what is called a “takedown notice” (based on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998), and request that the relevant Web hosts and search engines remove the image. You can read more about this strategy in an interview with attorney Carrie Goldberg in the New Yorker magazine.
How can I prevent the abuser from posting my images on Facebook or Instagram?
Facebook has a project where they provide an emergency option for victims who are fearful that their intimate images may be posted, which you can read more about on the Facebook website. The goal is to prevent an image from being widely shared and to take down images that have already been shared. For this project, Facebook has partnered with non-profit organizations. You can share your image in a safe and secure way to assist Facebook with preventing your image or video from being shared anywhere on Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram. You can read more about how to submit an image on Facebook’s website. For more information on how to use the portal to submit images that you fear someone will post and distribute on Facebook, you can reach out to Facebook’s partnering agency, the Cyber Civil Rights Institute (CCRI) or contact the WomensLaw Email Hotline.
