We have become concerned about the emergence of services which appear to charge for assistance in removing intimate images online, alongside the growth of AI‑based tools that promise support to victims that may not be technically feasible. While services offering content removal or “reputation management” have existed for some time, we are now seeing a growing number of models specifically targeting non-consensual intimate image abuse, often combining detection and takedown claims with paid-for services. These services vary in quality and intent, with some operating more transparently than others; however, from our perspective, the introduction of payment at the point of harm raises consistent and significant concerns regardless of provider type.
We are particularly concerned by models that require the collection of biometric data, including facial recognition inputs, without clear privacy‑preserving safeguards or evidence of effectiveness. At SWGfL, we have spent more than a decade supporting adults who have experienced non-consensual intimate image (NCII) abuse, and actively work with partners helping young people who experience similar harms. Through the Revenge Porn Helpline, we have worked directly with individuals in some of the most distressing and vulnerable situations, helping them to regain control when their intimate images have been shared without consent.
It is also important to distinguish between prevention and takedown. Services such as the Revenge Porn Helpline support victims by securing the removal of content that is already online, while StopNCII.org is designed to prevent the sharing of intimate images in the first place. These are distinct but complementary approaches and should not be conflated.
Should Victims Pay for Image Takedown Services?
From the outset, our work has been guided by a core premise:
Victims must be supported, not exploited, and most importantly, access to support must be free at point of need and preserve privacy to the greatest extent possible.
While some individuals may choose to engage additional paid services, access to effective reporting and removal pathways must always be available free at the point of harm.
No individual experiencing abuse or harm (particularly where that harm is illegal) should be required to pay in order to have that harm addressed. Victims of intimate image abuse should not face financial barriers to reporting, support, or removal of their content. Charging for such services risks compounding the harm already experienced and introduces inequity and potential exploitation at a moment when timely and trusted intervention is critical.
Over the past 11 years, the Revenge Porn Helpline has supported thousands of victims across the UK. During that time, the helpline has reported and helped secure the removal of half a million intimate images and videos from online platforms, consistently achieving removal rates in the region of 90–95% for the content we assess and escalate. This work is complex, safeguarded and victim led, often requiring direct engagement with platforms on a case-by-case basis. It is also, and always has been, provided free at the point of use.
We are therefore concerned by the emergence of these services which appear to normalise charging victims for assistance with the removal of intimate images.
Such approaches risk:
- Exploiting victims at their most vulnerable
- Creating financial barriers with unequal access to support
- Normalising payment for takedown services in ways that may discourage reporting
- Compromising privacy through unnecessary collection of personal or biometric data
- Overpromising outcomes that may not be technically or operationally deliverable
At a minimum, victims should never feel that they need to pay in order to access effective reporting or removal of this illegal and deeply personal harm.
Clarifying Prevention and Takedown
Alongside these concerns, there is a growing lack of clarity in how different types of services in this space are being described and marketed to victims.
In particular, there is increasing confusion between preventative technologies/ solutions and reactive takedown services.These are fundamentally different.
For more than 11 years, the Revenge Porn Helpline, and many partner organisations globally, have provided takedown support. This involves working with victims after content has already been shared, assessing cases, reporting images to platforms, and securing their removal. This is a hands-on, safeguarded and victim-led process focused on resolving harm that has already occurred.
StopNCII.org, by contrast, is a preventative service.
It enables individuals to create a privacy preserving, secure digital fingerprint (hash) of their intimate images on their own device. Hashing approaches remain effective for both real and AI‑generated intimate images and video, where the individual has access to the content in question. These hashes are shared with participating platforms, allowing those platforms to detect and block that content before it can be uploaded. Recent developments enabling participating platforms to share hashes further increase the scale and effectiveness of this approach by reducing the re‑upload of content across services.
StopNCII does not necessarily remove content that is already online but with the capability for platforms to share hashes, it increases the scale of StopNCII's impact and its role in reducing duplicates. It is designed to prevent the spread of content before it happens. This distinction matters.
Prevention and takedown serve different purposes, operate in different ways, and should not be treated as interchangeable or equivalent. Confusion between them risks misrepresenting what different services can do and may lead to unrealistic expectations or inappropriate policy and funding decisions.
Both approaches are essential within a broader response ecosystem, but they must be clearly understood and appropriately applied.
Core Principles
Intimate image (NCII) abuse is a severe and deeply personal form of harm. Responses to it must be effective, ethically grounded and non-exploitative.
We believe that any response framework in this space should be guided by a core set of clear principles:
- Victims should not face financial barriers towards support or removal of content
- The distinction between prevention and takedown should be clearly understood
- Services must prioritise safeguarding, privacy and transparency
- Collaboration between trusted organisations should be encouraged over fragmented or commercially-driven approaches
- Services should never over-promise what they are able to offer victims, as risk of under-delivering violates the “do not harm” standard of care in working with individuals in crisis
- Services should be transparent about their capabilities and limitations
SWGfL will continue to:
- Work with partners and policymakers to ensure responses remain survivor‑centred, trauma‑informed, accessible, and grounded in proven practice, supported by long‑standing partnerships with industry platforms and a global network of NGO partners
- Provide free, expert support to victims through the UK Revenge Porn Helpline, alongside trusted referrals to international partner organisations where appropriate
- Operate StopNCII.org as a global preventative service, available in 34 languages
