Who can ask
A person being stalked can file for the order in the county where they live, where the other person lives, or where it happened. There is no filing fee.
Private Again · What to do tonight
Someone shared your private images. Here is what to do tonight.
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. If the person in the images is under 18, stop here and go to the under-18 page instead.
- Please do NOT send us the images
- Websites have 48 hours once we submit the request
- A free case review tells you which claims are yours
Do this tonight, in this order
Preserve the proof. Then call us. We take it from there.
- Do not delete anything.
Texts, messages, the account that sent it, the post, the profile. Deleting feels like relief and destroys the proof.
- Write down where it is.
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 deadline to sue can start earlier than you would assume.
- Capture it, carefully.
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.
- Tell us where it is, and we handle the takedown.
Federal law gives a website 48 hours once it receives a valid removal request, and the request can come from someone acting on your behalf. We prepare and submit it, and the clock starts. How the rule works, below.
- Do not engage with the person.
Do not threaten, do not bargain, do not pay. If they are threatening to post, save the threat and do not answer it.
- Then call us.
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.
Four things that hurt your case
What not to do
Each of these feels reasonable in the moment. Each one either destroys evidence, hands the other side an argument, or creates a problem of your own.
- Do not pay. Paying rarely ends it, and demanding money to keep your images private is itself a crime in Florida. Save the demand instead.
- Do not delete. Not the messages, not the account, not your own copies of the conversation. The proof of who sent what, and when, is in the record you are tempted to erase.
- Do not secretly record a call with the person who posted. Florida requires everyone on a call or in a private conversation to agree before it is recorded. Recording without that is a crime, and it can hurt your case instead of helping it. Save what they send you in writing instead.
- Do not forward the image to anyone. Not to a friend, not to family, not to us. Every copy you send is one more copy that exists, and if the person in it is under 18, forwarding it is a crime with no exception for good intentions.
How we get it taken down
Two laws now put a clock on the website. Under the federal TAKE IT DOWN Act, a covered website must remove a reported intimate image, and make reasonable efforts to remove known copies, within 48 hours of a valid request from you or from someone acting on your behalf. Florida’s law on AI fakes and edited images gives websites the same 48 hours.
The request has to be made the way the law requires to count. We prepare and submit it for clients as part of the case, to every website where the image appears, document when each one was sent, and track the 48 hours. Making it properly is our job, not yours.
Stopping it from spreading
Participating websites 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.
If the website ignores the request
A website that does not act within 48 hours, or has no way to request removal, gets reported to the federal agency that enforces the rule. We make that report for clients, with the dated record of the request the website ignored.
Removal is the floor, not the case
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.
Now or tomorrow
The police report
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.
Sharing your intimate images without consent is a crime in Florida, and so is threatening to expose you to get money or force you to do something. A police report is part of the record.
Bring the list you made in step 2, and ask for the report number before you leave. We use that report in the website requests and, later, in the case.
Can a court order them to stop?
Florida lets a victim of stalking, including stalking done online, ask a court for a protective order. Here is how it works.
What a court can do fast
If the facts show stalking, a court can issue a temporary order the same day, without the other person present, until a full hearing is held.
What the order can say
After the hearing, the court can order the person to stop, order them into treatment at their own expense, and add whatever terms it finds necessary to protect you.
Whether it fits
Whether what is happening to you fits the definition of stalking depends on the facts. We assess that, and where the facts support it, we prepare and file the petition for clients.
If you need to talk to someone right now
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.
Questions people ask first
Short answers, based on current Florida and federal law.
Do not delete anything, write down exactly where the images are and when you first saw them, and screenshot the page with the address bar and date visible. Do not contact the person. Then call us; we handle the takedown, the reporting, and the deadlines.
Once a covered website receives a valid removal request, federal law gives it 48 hours to remove the images and make reasonable efforts to remove known copies. We submit the request as soon as we have the links.
Save the threat, do not answer it, and do not pay. Threatening to expose you to get money or force you to do something is a crime in Florida, and the threat itself is evidence. If you are in immediate danger, call 911. Then contact us.
No. Your accounts hold the messages, timestamps, and account names that prove who sent what and when. Keep everything until we have reviewed it with you.
Not without their consent. Florida requires everyone on a call or in a private conversation to agree before it is recorded, and recording without that is a crime. Save what they send you in writing instead.
Tell us, and keep the dates. Both federal law and Florida law require websites to make reasonable efforts to remove known copies, not just the one link that was reported. We report the new copy, keep the dated record, and set up the re-upload block with you.
Florida lets a victim of stalking, including online stalking, ask a court for a protective order, and a court can issue a temporary order the same day when the facts support it. Whether your facts fit is something we assess, and where they do, we prepare and file the petition.
Not under the 48-hour rules. Those are enforced by the government, not by a lawsuit from you. The people you can sue are the ones who posted or shared the images; our main page covers those claims.
The links, the account names, the date you first saw the images, every repost you know about, and any messages or threats you received. Please do NOT send us the images; we do not need them to have that conversation.
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 law are our work. Four different laws may apply to what happened to you, and the deadline to sue can start earlier than you would assume. A free, confidential case review sorts that out before anything is filed.
When you are ready to talk about a case
Our main page covers the four laws that let you sue, and what happens when you call.