How do I get a deepfake nude taken down?

Use the platform's own intimate image removal form, not the ordinary report button, and the law in both the US and the UK then gives the platform 48 hours to take the picture down. In the US the Take It Down Act has required this since May 19, 2026, and it covers AI deepfakes as well as real photos. In the UK the Crime and Policing Act 2026 added the same duty to the Online Safety Act, in force since June 29, 2026. A free hashing service then blocks copies elsewhere. This is general information, not legal advice.

The clock starts with your request, not the post

The common claim is that a platform must remove a deepfake nude within 48 hours. It is true only in a narrow sense. Neither law starts a clock when an image is posted. The US statute runs 48 hours "after receiving such request" made through the platform's process. The UK text runs 48 hours "after the provider receives the report". Until you file one, there is no deadline at all.

So the generic report button is the wrong tool. The statutory route needs things a one tap flag does not carry, such as a signature or a declaration that you are the person shown. The US law requires a clear and conspicuous notice of the process, so look for a link about intimate images or the Take It Down Act in the help center or beside the post.

You also do not have to prove the image is fake. Both laws treat a real photo and a fabricated one the same way. The FTC says the US law applies to "real images, digitally altered images, and deepfakes created with artificial intelligence", and the UK definition counts any image "made or altered by computer graphics" that appears to be a photograph. The signs of an AI image help with friends or an employer, not the platform.

The US and UK rules side by side

This comparison is taken from the statute text in each country, not the summaries.

The copies row matters most. Under the US wording a cropped or filtered version may need its own request, so list every link you have.

What a valid request has to say

In the United States

The four required parts sit in Section 3 of the Act, not on the FTC's consumer page, which is why many guides miss them. Your request must be in writing and include a physical or electronic signature, an identification of the image with information reasonably sufficient for the platform to find it, a brief statement that you have a good faith belief the image is not consensual along with anything that helps the platform see that, and a way to contact you. The FTC says you can also file for your child, or for someone who has given you permission.

You do not need an account: the FTC's business guidance says the protections are not limited to account holders. It also tells platforms to issue a reference number for each request and to say whether the content was removed, and if not, why. Keep that number for any complaint or police report.

In the United Kingdom

The UK report is built from declarations: that the content is intimate image content, that you are the subject or acting for them, and that the report is made in good faith and is true to the best of your knowledge and belief. It must identify the content and give your contact details. Regulations can add more.

The UK law gives platforms a stated way out: the duty does not apply if the provider considers the content is not intimate image content, or that the reporter is not the subject or acting for them. If it declines, use the expedited complaints procedure the Act requires rather than filing the same report again.

Save the evidence before you report

A successful takedown deletes what you may later need to show the police. The method is the one in the practical response to online harassment, applied to one image:

• The full web address of every post, profile and copy, one per line.
• A screenshot of each page with the account name, date and context.
• The handle and, where shown, the numeric profile identifier, since handles change.
• Any threat or demand for money that came with it.
• After filing, the date, time and reference number of each request.

If the person shown is under 18, record the links and account details and leave the image itself for police rather than keeping copies. Sharing it is a crime, as the FTC notes.

Stop the copies with a hash

The 48 hour rules work one platform at a time. Hashing works across many: a fingerprint is calculated from the file on your own device, and participating platforms compare uploads against it. Two free services do this, split by age.

StopNCII is for images of you at 18 or over. Only the hash leaves your device. You get a case number and a PIN, which StopNCII warns cannot be recovered if lost. Participating platforms remove matches that break their intimate image policy; sites that are not partners are untouched.

Take It Down, run by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, is for nude, partially nude or sexually explicit images taken when you were under 18. You can stay anonymous, only the hash reaches NCMEC, and it works on public or unencrypted platforms that take part. Parents will find the wider picture in what AI means for children and how to talk about it.

Both need the file on your device, so hashing is the net under your takedown requests, not a replacement. The UK government's aim of one report covering every platform is not yet law.

When the platform misses the 48 hours

In the US, report the platform at TakeItDown.ftc.gov with your request date and reference number. A failure to reasonably comply is treated as a violation of an FTC rule, and the FTC puts the civil penalty at 53,088 dollars per violation. The Act shields a platform that removes an image in good faith even if it proves lawful, so saying yes costs it nothing.

In the UK, use the expedited complaint first. Ofcom enforces the duty against the service and can fine up to 10 percent of qualifying worldwide revenue or have a service blocked. Ignoring an Ofcom confirmation decision about intimate image content without reasonable excuse is a criminal offense.

The person who shared the image is a separate matter. In the US, the FTC says to report them to local police and the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. In England and Wales, sharing an intimate image without consent and creating a purported intimate image of an adult are offenses under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Who to tell about a scam and what it achieves covers a money demand, and if you already paid, the first hour after paying a scammer is the page to open next.

What to do in the next hour

1. Capture every link, screenshot and account detail.
2. On each platform, use the intimate image removal form, not the generic report button.
3. Include each link, a statement that it shows you without consent, your signature and contact details.
4. Note each reference number and set a reminder for 48 hours later.
5. Hash the image with StopNCII, or Take It Down if you were under 18.
6. Escalate a missed deadline: TakeItDown.ftc.gov in the US, the expedited complaint in the UK.
7. Report the person responsible to the police, and never pay a demand.

When you need to explain that a convincing fake took minutes, how AI image generators work and what still gives AI video away cover the mechanics. Outside the US and UK the steps still help, but the 48 hour deadline does not apply.