Intimate Images or Deepfakes Posted Online: Removal Steps

Someone has posted intimate photos or a video of you online without your permission. It may be an image you once shared with someone you trusted, something recorded without your knowledge, or an AI fake that looks like you. You want it gone.

The short answer: report every post inside the app, open a free case at StopNCII.org, send Google its removal request for non-consensual explicit imagery, and make a police report. Each reaches a different place, so using all of them gives you the widest cover.

This guide takes you through each step, for adults and for anyone under 18, with the Malaysian agencies that can help. It never asks you to look at or share the images again.

Last checked: 29 September 2026.

#How Do You Get Intimate Images of You Removed From the Internet?

Record where the images are: the links, the account names and the date you found each one. Report each post in the app. If you are 18 or over and still have the image on your device, create a case at StopNCII.org so participating platforms can detect copies. Submit Google's request to remove non-consensual intimate imagery from Search and other Google services. Then report to the police and MCMC. If someone demands money, do not pay. Each platform decides what comes down from its own service, and no single step removes an image everywhere.

#This Is Not Your Fault

Sharing someone's intimate images without consent is abuse, and so is making a sexual deepfake of them. Google's help page on removing explicit or intimate content says it plainly: you are not at fault and you are not alone. It also says that agreeing to an image being taken or shared privately in the past does not mean you agreed to anyone sharing it more widely.

You do not need to explain why the image exists, and you do not owe anyone an apology. It is normal to feel shocked, ashamed, angry or numb. Take the steps below at your own pace, and let a friend you trust check the links if looking at them is too much. Talian Kasih 15999, listed in the under-18 section below, also offers counselling. If you are in danger right now, contact the police or emergency services first.

#Step 1: Record Where the Images Are, Without Spreading Them

You need a record for the platforms and the police, but you do not need to copy the images themselves. Instagram's page on intimate photos shared without consent recommends a screenshot of the post for reporting purposes. Keep that screenshot to yourself, and focus on the details around the image rather than the image.

• The full link to each post, profile, group or website where the image appears.
• The username and profile link of every account that posted or shared it.
• The date and time you found each one, and the platform.
• Any messages, threats or demands, with the sender's name and the date.
• Report reference numbers and platform replies, as they arrive.

#Step 2: Report Each Post Inside the App

The in-app Report option is the fastest route on every major platform, and it works from Malaysia. Report the post itself and also the account that posted it. The menu labels below were correct at the time of writing, but they can vary by app version, language and region.

No account? Instagram says a friend can report for you. Blocking the person hides the post from you, but others can still see it until it is removed, so report first.

#Why Meta's Special Form Does Not Apply in Malaysia

Some guides point to a dedicated Meta form for non-consensual intimate images. Meta's page on reporting NCII on its platforms says that form is currently available only to residents of Texas and Florida, with wider US access in progress. From Malaysia, use the normal "Report" option on the post, which Meta says still covers this content.

Facebook's privacy report page for photos and videos says those forms are mainly for images of your child under 13 or someone you legally represent. For your own intimate images, the in-app report is the stronger route.

#Step 3: Open a StopNCII Case to Block Copies

StopNCII.org is a free tool, developed by Meta and the UK charity SWGfL, that helps stop intimate images spreading across participating platforms. According to StopNCII's own site, it creates a digital fingerprint of your image, called a hash, directly on your device. Only that hash is shared with participating companies. The image never leaves your phone and nobody at StopNCII sees it.

StopNCII says you can use it if you are the person in the image, you were 18 or older when it was taken and are 18 or older now, the image is intimate, and you still have a copy on your device. Its FAQ confirms that deepfakes and AI-made images of you count, that you can be anywhere in the world, and that a screenshot works if you do not have the original.

1. Go to StopNCII.org yourself and choose "Create Your Case".
2. Select the images or videos from your device. StopNCII's how it works page says only the hash is sent.
3. Write down the case number and PIN somewhere safe. StopNCII says it cannot recover them if you lose them.
4. Check the case status with that number and PIN. The FAQ says updates may take 3 to 5 days to appear.

#Step 4: Ask Google to Remove the Images

Google has a single request for non-consensual intimate imagery across its services, including Search, Drive and Photos. Its policy explicitly includes fake, AI-generated and synthetic images, often called deepfakes. You, or someone acting for you, can submit it from Google's page on asking Google to remove explicit or intimate content.

• You give the name of the person in the content, the links to the images or pages, and any context that helps Google find them.
• Google aims to review requests within 48 hours and tells you the result by email.
• If the content breaks its policy, Google removes it and, if you choose, tries to take down later copies, though it says it may not catch every one.
• YouTube needs a separate form, such as YouTube's privacy complaint process.

Google can only remove content hosted on its own services. For a website it does not host, the site's owner controls the content. Once that site takes the image down, Google says you can ask it to refresh any Search result that still shows the old version.

#Step 5: Report to the Police and MCMC in Malaysia

A police report creates an official record and lets the police investigate the person responsible. Make it at the nearest police station and bring your written notes, links and screenshots of messages rather than copies of the images. The police decide which laws apply to your case.

You can also report to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. The Online Safety Act 2025 has been in force since 1 January 2026, according to MCMC's page for the Act. Its First Schedule lists obscene content, and content that may cause harassment, distress, fear or alarm, as harmful content. Section 24 lets you report harmful content to MCMC whether or not you have already reported it to the platform, and also covers content found elsewhere online.

MCMC's make a complaint page lists its complaint portal at aduan.mcmc.gov.my. Attach the links, dates and any platform replies you have.

#If Someone Is Demanding Money

If the person who posted the images, or someone threatening to post more, asks for money, do not pay and do not negotiate. Paying gives you no way to make sure the images are deleted. Save the messages and report the account in the app.

If you have already sent money, act on that first. The National Scam Response Centre's FAQ on the NFCC website says to contact your bank's hotline or the NSRC on 997 immediately, then make a police report at the nearest station as soon as possible. It also says NSRC, PDRM, MCMC, BNM and banks will never ask for your banking password, PIN, TAC or OTP. Our guide to sextortion on social media in Malaysia covers the threat stage in more detail.

#If You Are Under 18

If you were under 18 in the image, you have not done anything wrong, and there is a separate route built for you. StopNCII does not accept images of anyone under 18. Use Take It Down, a free service from the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

• Take It Down creates a hash on your device, so you never send the image to anyone, and you can stay anonymous.
• It works on public or unencrypted platforms that have agreed to take part, and adults can use it for images taken before they turned 18.
• Do not send, share or download the image to use it. Use only what is already on your device.
• Google says content showing anyone under 18 should go through its Google Search reporting form, whichever product it appears on.

Please tell an adult you trust: a parent, a relative, a teacher or a school counsellor. In Malaysia, Talian Kasih 15999, run by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, takes reports about child abuse and sexual harassment and offers counselling. Its official page says the line runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and it is free to call.

#What If Your Account Was Hacked to Get the Images?

Sometimes images leak because someone got into your Instagram, Google Photos or cloud storage. Secure the email account linked to it first, change the password, log out of other devices and turn on two-factor authentication. Never give a login code to anyone who messages you about the images. Our guide to reporting a hacked account in Malaysia walks through the official routes and the Malaysian agencies involved.

#Mistakes That Make Removal Harder

• Forwarding the images to friends or posting them to warn people. Each copy is another one to remove.
• Blocking the account before reporting it and saving its profile link. Report first, then block.
• Paying someone who threatens to post more, or paying a stranger who promises to delete it everywhere.
• Losing your StopNCII case number and PIN, which cannot be recovered.
• Waiting until you can do everything at once. One report today is better than a perfect plan next week.

#When a Case Review Makes Sense

Everything above can be done by you, for free, and those official routes are the ones that actually remove content. Where SocialSafe by AwareXone, our recovery service, can help is narrower: securing an account that was hacked to take the images, and preparing clear platform reports when you are too overwhelmed to fill them in. We cannot remove images from the internet, and only each platform decides what comes down from its service. Our content removal page explains what we do and do not handle, and our Trust Center sets out what we never ask for, including your passwords, codes and the images themselves. For a wider look at other kinds of harmful posts, see our guide to removing harmful social media content in Malaysia.

#Frequently Asked Questions