You do not have to fix this tonight. You do have to protect the proof.
Save the proof tonight. It is the one thing only you can do, and every claim rests on it. Then call us. We handle the takedown, the reporting, and the deadlines under the statutes that apply. If the person in the images is under 18, stop here and go to the under-18 page instead.
Preserve the proof. Then call us. We take it from there.
Texts, messages, the account that sent it, the post, the profile. Deleting feels like relief and destroys the proof.
The exact link, the platform, the username, the date and time you first saw it, and every repost you know of. These dates matter more than most people expect, because the filing deadline comes from general limitations law and can start earlier than you would assume.
Screenshot the page with the address bar and the date visible. Bring what you saved to the case review; we tell you what else, if anything, needs to be preserved.
Federal law gives a platform 48 hours once it receives a valid removal request, and it lets that request come from someone acting on your behalf. We prepare and submit it in the form the statute requires, and the clock starts. How the rule works, below.
Do not threaten, do not bargain, do not pay. If they are threatening to post, save the threat and do not answer it.
If you are in immediate danger or believe there is a current threat to your safety, call 911. Otherwise, a police report can wait until tomorrow, and we tell you what to bring. Start a free, confidential case review or call (561) 455-4455.
Each of these feels reasonable in the moment. Each one either destroys evidence, hands the other side a defense, or exposes you to a charge of your own.
Two laws now put a clock on the platform. Under the federal TAKE IT DOWN Act, a covered platform must remove a reported intimate image, and make reasonable efforts to remove known copies, within 48 hours of a valid request from the person depicted or an authorized person acting on their behalf. Florida’s own statute on altered and AI-generated depictions, section 836.13, gives covered platforms the same 48 hours, and treats a platform that ignores the request as committing an unfair or deceptive trade practice.
The request has to meet the statute’s requirements to count: a signature, enough information for the platform to locate the image, a good-faith statement that it was published without consent, and contact information. We prepare and submit these for clients as part of the case, document when each one was sent, and track the 48 hours. Neither law lets you sue the platform directly for missing the deadline; enforcement runs through the Federal Trade Commission and, in Florida, the deceptive-practices statute. What the deadline does is give a properly made request weight, and making it properly is our job, not yours.
We submit it in the form the statute requires, to every platform where the image appears, document when each one was sent, and track the deadline.
Participating platforms can block re-uploads of an image before they appear, using a digital fingerprint that is created on your own device and never uploads the image itself. We walk clients through that step as part of the case.
A platform that does not act within 48 hours, or has no way to request removal, we report to the Federal Trade Commission at takeitdown.ftc.gov. The FTC’s own page says it: only platforms can take images down, platforms have 48 hours to remove the photo or video and any duplicates, and the FTC uses those reports to investigate and bring cases against covered platforms. We make that report for clients, with the dated record of the request the platform ignored.
Getting the images down does not settle anything with the person who posted them. Florida and federal law both let you sue that person, and the deadline to do it is already running. A free, confidential case review tells you which claims are yours and what to do next; you can also call (561) 455-4455.
If you are in immediate danger or believe there is a current threat to your safety, call 911. Otherwise, you can wait until tomorrow to file a police report.
Publishing a sexually explicit image of someone without consent is a crime in Florida under section 784.049: a first-degree misdemeanor for a first offense, a third-degree felony for a repeat offense or when it is done for money. A malicious threat to expose you in order to get money or force you to do something is second-degree felony extortion under section 836.05.
Bring the list you made in step 2, and ask for the report number before you leave. We use that report in the platform requests and, later, in the case.
Florida has a civil injunction for protection against stalking, and the statute says stalking includes cyberstalking. Here is what the text provides, and where it goes quiet.
A victim of stalking may file a verified petition in circuit court, where you live, where the other person lives, or where the stalking happened. The clerk may not charge a filing fee. Whether your facts fit the definition is the hard part. We assess that, and where the facts support it, we prepare and file the petition for clients.
If it appears that stalking exists, a court may grant a temporary injunction the same day, without the other side present, pending a full hearing. After a hearing, the injunction may restrain any act of stalking, order the respondent into treatment at their own expense, and add whatever terms the court finds necessary for your protection.
The definition of cyberstalking covers a course of conduct communicating words, images, or language electronically “directed at or pertaining to a specific person,” causing substantial emotional distress and serving no legitimate purpose. Posting about you sits inside those words. Whether a court will read it that way in your case is not settled, and it is a question we answer before anything is filed.
Florida’s separate injunction for dating violence and sexual violence defines those terms around assault, battery, and listed sex offenses. Sharing an image is not in the list. If you are offered that form, the stalking injunction is the one that applies, and we file the right one.
The Cyber Civil Rights Initiative runs a free, confidential Image Abuse Helpline, 24 hours a day: 1-844-878-2274. It is staffed for exactly this, and calling it commits you to nothing.
Answers come from the statutes and the agencies’ own pages. Where the law does not answer, we say so.
Not without their consent. Florida requires all parties to a call or private conversation to consent before it is recorded. Recording without consent is a third-degree felony, the recording is inadmissible, and the person recorded can sue for at least $1,000 plus fees. Save what they send you in writing instead; that is not an interception.
Tell us, and keep the dates. We report the new copy and keep the dated record. Both the federal act and Florida’s section 836.13 require platforms to make reasonable efforts to remove known identical copies, not just the one link that was reported. If the platform is not doing that, we report it to the FTC at takeitdown.ftc.gov, and we set up the re-upload block with you.
The statute does not require one. What it also does not tell you is whether your facts fit the cyberstalking definition, especially when the posts were about you rather than sent to you, or whether the injunction is the right first move for your civil case. Those are the questions a case review answers before anything is filed, and when the facts support it, we file it.
Because saving the proof is the only part of this you should have to do yourself. Which claims you have, who you can name, when your deadline runs, and getting the images down under the right statute are our work. Four different statutes may apply to what happened to you, each with its own elements, and the filing deadline comes from general limitations law and can start earlier than you would assume. A free, confidential case review sorts that out before anything is filed, and please do NOT send us the images; we do not need them to have that conversation.
Not under the 48-hour rules. The federal TAKE IT DOWN Act is enforced only by the Federal Trade Commission, and Florida’s section 836.13 treats a platform’s failure as a deceptive trade practice rather than giving you a direct claim under that subsection. The people you can sue are the ones who posted or shared the images; our main page covers those claims.
Our main page covers the four statutes that let you sue, how we take these cases, and what happens when you call.