Frequently asked questions

The Take It Down Act is a federal statute, Public Law 119-12, that criminalizes the knowing publication of nonconsensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated deepfakes, and requires covered online platforms to remove reported content within 48 hours. It was signed into law on May 19, 2025.

The criminal provisions in Section 2 took effect when the law was signed on May 19, 2025. The platform notice-and-removal obligations in Section 3 became enforceable by the Federal Trade Commission one year later, on May 19, 2026.

No. The Act covers both authentic intimate photos and videos shared without consent and digital forgeries created or altered using software, machine learning, or artificial intelligence. The protections are equivalent regardless of whether the content is real or synthetic.

An intimate visual depiction is an authentic image or video showing intimate body parts or sexual conduct of an identifiable person. A digital forgery is a synthetic or manipulated image that appears to a reasonable viewer to depict an identifiable person in the same way. Both are within the scope of the Act.

Find the platform's notice-and-removal page, which it is required to make clear and conspicuous. Submit a request that includes your signature, the URL or other identifier of the content, a statement of your good-faith belief that the content was published without your consent, and contact information. The platform must act within 48 hours. See the Your Rights page for a detailed walkthrough.

Yes. The FTC's compliance guidance specifically directs platforms to provide a removal-request pathway accessible to non-account holders. Protection under the Act is not conditioned on holding an account.

You do not need to report each copy individually. The Act requires covered platforms to make reasonable efforts to identify and remove known identical copies of a reported image within the same 48-hour window. If a platform fails to remove duplicates that should reasonably have been detected, that may itself constitute a violation.

You may file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov, and you may also report the underlying publication to law enforcement, which may constitute a federal crime under Section 2 of the Act. Consulting an attorney is advisable.

The platform removal obligation applies to content that remains accessible on a covered platform regardless of when it was originally posted. The criminal provisions in Section 2 apply to publication that occurs after the Act's effective date.

Threatening to publish intimate imagery for the purpose of intimidation, coercion, extortion, or to cause mental distress is itself a federal crime under the Act. Contact local law enforcement immediately, and file a report with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. Preserve all communications. Do not pay the demand; payment rarely ends the threats and complicates law enforcement's work.

Likely yes if your service primarily provides a forum for user-generated content, or if it regularly publishes, curates, hosts, or makes available the kind of content the Act addresses. The FTC has confirmed that social media, messaging, image and video sharing, and gaming platforms are within scope. Counsel should be consulted in close cases.

At a minimum, it includes a clear and conspicuous notice describing the process, an intake mechanism that accepts the four statutory elements of a valid request, a workflow capable of completing removal within 48 hours, a reasonable identical-copy search across the service, and a response to the requester confirming the outcome. See the Platform Obligations page for details.

The Act creates an independent FTC-enforced duty that is not displaced by Section 230 immunity. Section 230 continues to apply to platforms' general liability for user-generated content, but it does not excuse a platform from the Section 3 removal obligation.

A violation is treated as a violation of an FTC rule. The Federal Trade Commission has indicated that civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation may be sought, in addition to other remedies available under the Federal Trade Commission Act.

No. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act addresses copyright infringement and is a separate regime. A single piece of content may give rise to obligations under both statutes, but a DMCA workflow does not satisfy the TIDA workflow. Platforms should maintain a distinct, plainly labeled TIDA process.

Where this site summarizes the law, the underlying authority is the statute and the FTC's published guidance, both of which are linked throughout. The aim is to present those primary materials in plain language.