Understanding NCII Abuse: Protection & Legal Steps

Living in the digital age comes with many pros and cons that we’re still getting used to. However, image-based sexual abuse is one of the biggest cons to the online world there is. Commonly referred to as Non-Consensual Intimate Image (NCII) abuse, this describes the distribution or threat of sharing intimate content, popularly known as nudes, without the approval of the depicted individual. NCII abuse often takes the form of sextortion, online blackmail, harassment, coercion, and revenge porn.
Having your intimate images shared without your consent can be devastating to your mental health and may even affect your reputation in your community. Although non-consensual intimate image abuse is never the victim’s fault, educating yourself about the crime is the best way to protect yourself from it. In this article, we are going through everything you need to know about non-consensual intimate image abuse.

The Difference Between NCII, Revenge Porn, and Sextortion

NCII is commonly used interchangeably with different forms of image-based sexual abuse. However, there are a lot of nuances that separate NCII from things like revenge porn and sextortion. NCII refers to any threat or distribution of non-consensual intimate images but it does not refer to intention. The intentions of the perpetrators are what largely define the different types of image-based sexual abuse. Here is how each form of NCII abuse is different:

Revenge porn is when someone shares NCII content to damage the victim’s reputation, mental health, or to gain leverage over the victim.
Sextortion is when someone threatens to expose a victim’s nudes unless they are financially compensated.
Sexploitation is like sextortion except instead of the intent to profit financially, the perpetrator demands more sexual content or favors.

How NCII Content Spreads and Who is at Risk

When it comes to NCII abuse, everyone is at risk of being a victim. The continuous development of technology has provided criminals with many ways to violate the privacy of others and gain access to their private content. Let’s take a look at the common ways perpetrators get NCII content.

Hacked Accounts and Stolen Data

Despite what many people believe, intimate images or videos are not safe on your private devices. Cybercriminals use different tactics to gain access to devices. One of the most common is called a phishing scam.
This is when a scammer impersonates a person or entity and uses a malicious link to trick victims into revealing their own sensitive information. The fraudulent link can infect your device with malware, giving the hacker access to all of the images or videos on there, or it can send you to a convincing but fake website designed to trick you into entering sensitive information on the page.
Phishing scams are also used on social media. Hackers commonly create fake profiles as an attempt to trick users into clicking on malicious links. However, they may also message you from a close friend’s profile that they recently gained access to. You should always be aware of what you are clicking on when using the internet, even if the link comes from someone close to you.

Relationship-Based Betrayal and Sextortion

Of course, NCII content isn’t always obtained illegally. There are instances where the intimate images or videos were willfully sent over by the depicted party. However, these messages are always sent by victims in good faith that they will be kept private. This is because most of the time the victim and perpetrator were in a prior relationship.
Revenge porn is typically carried out by a former romantic partner who has disgruntled feelings about the victim. They distribute the NCII content online as a way of harming the victim or in some cases, to gain power over them.
On the other hand, sextortion is typically carried out by a stranger. It starts with a criminal creating a catfish profile to lure an unsuspecting user into a relationship. After someone responds, the sextortionists will build an intimate relationship with the user only to threaten to expose their private photos and videos if they aren’t compensated.

Deepfakes and AI-Generated NCII Content

Getting nudes off the internet and having them leaked is even more difficult with the introduction of AI technology. Criminals are utilizing deepfake technology to create explicit content with a victim’s likeness. Not only can this be damaging to someone’s emotional, mental, and physical state but the victim may not have any idea that this NCII abuse is even happening. AI is gradually exasperating the issue of image-based sexual abuse by making it more difficult to detect.

Immediate Steps to Take if You’re a Victim of NCII Abuse

If you are a victim of image-based sexual abuse, it’s important to keep a cool head. Just know that you are not alone and many more have dealt with the same situation. It may feel hopeless but there are many different ways you can take control of the situation. Here are some immediate steps to take when dealing with NCII abuse.

Do not engage with the perpetrator: Avoid complying with blackmail or demands, as this can escalate the abuse or even encourage the perpetrator to release the NCII content sooner.
Document everything: Take screenshots of messages, emails, and any threats to build evidence for reporting purposes.
Secure your online accounts: Change passwords, enable two-factor authentication (2FA), and review privacy settings.
Report the NCII content: Use platform-specific tools to request removal and report the abuse.
Contact law enforcement and legal support: You should always report an instance of NCII abuse to the local authorities. In many jurisdictions, NCII abuse is a criminal offense, and victims can take legal action. If the perpetrator is outside of the police department’s jurisdiction, then they may not be able to bring the perpetrator to justice but they can assist in getting nudes off the internet.

Reporting NCII Abuse and Requesting Content Removal

Multiple social media platforms have worked to create a simple process for reporting NCII content. However, many victims of NCII abuse immediately block their attackers on social media instead of reporting them to the platform administrators first.
This allows the criminal to continue targeting victims and they may expose your sensitive media in retaliation to being blocked. Reporting non-consensual intimate image abuse only takes a few seconds and it’s one of the best methods of getting nudes off the internet.

Reporting NCII to Major Social Media Platforms

Many social media platforms have reporting systems that make NCII removal simple. No matter the platform you use, you should always report NCII content of yourself or others. Here is a quick look at how each platform addresses NCII abuse.

Facebook and Instagram: Meta has a zero-policy for NCII abuse. Users can report any image-based sexual abuse anonymously and the post will be removed. They have also utilized machine learning to find NCII content before anyone reports it.
TikTok: Allows users to report any nudity or sexual content to be removed from the platform.
Twitter/X: Offers direct reporting of private content posted without consent. The platform allows sexually explicit content which means they will review NCII abuse reports carefully.
Reddit & Discord: Have strict policies against NCII and allow victims to request removal.

Using the Tool for Prevention

In partnership with StopNCII.org, Meta, Reddit, and TikTok have implemented a tool that protects victims of image-based sexual abuse. Using a hash-generating technology, victims can submit the explicit media being distributed or threatened on StopNCII.org and the image will be given a unique number to identify the image on all the platforms. Any attempt to share or upload that image will be stopped. It’s one of the best tools being utilized to fight against NCII content and in getting nudes off the internet.

Legal Protections Against NCII Abuse

When it comes to the battle against cybercrime, legally we are still catching up. Many countries have made great progress toward making the internet safer but there is still a long way to go. It’s important to understand all the legal protections against non-consensual image abuse and how it changes depending on where you are.

Laws Against NCII in the U.S. and Internationally

Victims of image-based sexual abuse do have some protections in America. Every state has laws against non-consensual image abuse except for South Carolina (1), but there is nothing against non-consensual intimate image sharing federally. However, the ‘SHIELD’ act would federally criminalize the non-consensual visual depiction of adults or children (2).
There is also the ‘TAKE IT DOWN’ act which builds on the ‘SHIELD’ act to take action against explicit AI generations and deepfakes (3). 30 states have laws against sexual deepfakes and these bills are the next step in addressing non-consensual intimate image abuse (4). Both bills passed the senate unanimously and wait in the house.
In the U.K., the ‘ONLINE SAFETY ACT’ was passed in 2023. The new set of laws attempt to force online platforms to remove harmful content from their sites. NCII is included in those harmful categories and while it’s illegal to share NCII, it’s not illegal to possess it. This makes the process of getting nudes off the internet difficult for victims (5).

Civil Lawsuits and Protective Orders

Depending on where you are, you may be able to take legal action against the perpetrator for things like revenge porn and sextortion. Some states will allow you to pursue criminal charges against them while in others, you can sue the criminal in civil court for damages.
Either way, it’s important to get legal advice from a professional before taking any legal action. Your protections change state by state and understanding your options is paramount to your legal success.

Preventing NCII Abuse: How to Stay Protected Online

In the digital age, learning how to protect yourself is incredibly important. The tactics used by cybercriminals continue to change and we all have to stay vigilant to keep up with the new malicious schemes. Here are some of the ways you can protect yourself from non-consensual image abuse.

Avoid sharing intimate content online, even with a significant other. This is the best way to avoid something like revenge porn.
Secure your passwords with a minimum of 12 characters, numbers, symbols, along with uppercase and lowercase letters. Use different passwords for multiple accounts.
Use encrypted messaging apps that offer disappearing messages for added security.
Check for hidden cameras in private spaces to prevent unauthorized recording.
Regularly audit online accounts and remove sensitive content from cloud storage.
Educate yourself about deepfakes and AI threats to stay ahead of evolving NCII tactics.

The Psychological and Emotional Toll of NCII Abuse

We encourage you to speak to someone if you are going through image-based sexual abuse. Whether it is revenge porn or sextortion, it is extremely stressful and traumatic to go through something like this. Talking to someone you trust like a friend, family member, counselor, or trusted police officer can benefit your mental health greatly.

Fighting NCII Abuse and Supporting Victims

Slowly but surely, we are legally catching up to the modern tactics of cybercriminals. Every year, more states are adopting laws against cybercrimes which paves the way for a more effective justice system. In the meantime, we must do our best to fight these cybercriminals with what we have: digital safety measures for protection, platform-specific reporting to keep getting nudes off the internet, and the continued education about non-consensual image abuse tactics.

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