Once naked pictures have been posted on the internet, it is almost impossible to remove them from there. With “Take it Down”, however, there is now a tool with which minors in particular can have intimate pictures deleted from the internet.
The number of nude pictures sent online is constantly increasing – also among children and young people. According to a 2022 survey of Swiss young people, 18 percent of respondents aged 16 to 17 have already sent erotic photos or videos of themselves at some point.
Among 18- to 19-year-olds, the figure is as high as 25 percent. And the age group of 14 to 15-year-olds is also affected. Six percent of the respondents have already sent intimate photos or videos of themselves.
But what if these images fall into the wrong hands? Cases of blackmail are then no longer a rarity. This is exactly where the private NPO National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) wants to start with its tool “Take it Down”.
Deleting pictures from the internet: What can the “Take it Down” tool do?
Children and young people can report a case via the website TakeItDown.NCMEC.org. In three steps, various information is requested, including age and whether intimate pictures have already ended up on the net.
In the next step, users can select photos or videos from their device. A hash value is then created for these. NCMEC then adds these values to the internal hash list. The photos or videos are not to be transmitted directly to NCMEC, but only the respective hash value.
This allows networks like Facebook or Instagram to find copies of the photos or videos on their platforms, delete them and stop their distribution.
Who is behind the new tool?
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children developed the new tool “Take it Down” together with Meta, among others. According to the Facebook group, the tool is based on the StopNCII platform developed by Meta, which adults can use to stop the spread of their intimate images online.
In addition to Instagram and Facebook, “Take it Down” is also supported by the platforms OnlyFans and Pornhub.
Deleting pictures from the internet: Who can use “Take it Down”?
According to Meta, “people of all ages” can access the tool to stop the spread of intimate pictures or videos on the net. However, this always involves files from children or young people. Therefore, Meta quantifies the following user groups:
Young people under the age of 18 who are concerned that their content has been or will be posted online parents or trusted adults acting on behalf of a young person adults who are concerned about images taken of them before they were 18 years old.
Meta plans to integrate Take it Down into Facebook and Instagram in the future. This will make it easier for users to report potentially harmful content.
