Take It Down

March 7, 2023

Source: https://takeitdown.ncmec.org/

Having nudes online is scary, but there is hope to get it taken down. This service is one step you can take to help remove online nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit photos and videos taken before you were 18.

What is Take It Down?

Take It Down is a free service that can help you remove or stop the online sharing of nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit images or videos taken of you when you were under 18 years old. You can remain anonymous while using the service and you won’t have to send your images or videos to anyone. Take It Down will work on public or unencrypted online platforms that have agreed to participate.

It’s scary when this happens to you, but it can happen to anyone. You’ve taken the first step, and we’re here to help you with the next steps. Take It Down is a service provided by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Who is Take It Down for?

Take It Down is for people who have images or videos of themselves nude, partially nude, or in sexually explicit situations taken when they were under the age of 18 that they believe have been or will be shared online. For example, maybe you sent a picture to someone, but now they’re threatening you or have posted it somewhere. Even if you’re unsure whether the image has been shared but want some help to try to remove it from places it may appear online, this service is for you.

If there is an explicit image of you from when you were 18 or older, you can get help at stopncii.org.

How Does Take It Down work?

Take It Down works by assigning a unique digital fingerprint, called a hash value, to nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit images or videos of people under the age of 18. Online platforms can use hash values to detect these images or videos on their services and remove this content. This all happens without the image or video ever leaving your device or anyone viewing it. Only the hash value will be provided to NCMEC.

Here’s how it works:

Select the explicit image or video that you want hashed from your device and click on “Get Started“.
For each image or video, Take It Down will generate a “hash” or digital fingerprint that can be used to identify an exact copy of that image or video.
Your image or video remains on your device and is not uploaded. The hash is added to a secure list maintained by NCMEC that is shared only with participating online platformswho have agreed to use this list to scan their public or unencrypted sites and apps for the hashes of your explicit content.
If an online platform detects an image or video on its public or unencrypted service that matches a hash value, it can take action to limit the spread of the explicit content!
Please do not share the images/videos on any social media after you have submitted them here. Once the hash value for your image or video has been added to the list, online platforms may use them to scan their public or unencrypted services. If you post the content in the future, it may be flagged and could put a block on your social media account.

View originally published article here: https://takeitdown.ncmec.org/