CRITICAL THREAT · Child Safety and Online Exploitation
Urgent: Steps to Take if Explicit Images of Your Child Are Shared Online
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued an urgent alert regarding the unauthorized sharing of explicit images of children online, including AI-generated deepfakes. This activity is a serious crime, and parents are advised to take immediate steps to report the perpetrators and secure the removal of such content from online platforms.
10/18/2026Social media platformsContent hosting websitesMessaging applications
Warning signs
Discovery of explicit or AI-altered images of a child on social media or websites
Threats from individuals to distribute private images of a child
Platforms failing to respond to removal requests within 48 hours
What you should do
Contact your local police department immediately
Report the incident to the NCMEC CyberTipline at 1-800-843-5678 or via their website
Contact the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or visiting a local field office
Submit a formal removal request to the hosting platform
Report non-compliant platforms to the FTC at TakeItDown.ftc.gov
Use the NCMEC Take It Down service to create a digital hash to suppress the image
Possessing or sharing explicit images of children is a severe criminal offense. This includes the creation and distribution of AI-generated deepfakes. If you discover that an explicit image of your child has been shared online, you should immediately report the perpetrator to law enforcement and demand that the hosting platform remove the content. Under the Take It Down Act, covered platforms are required to provide parents with an accessible mechanism to request the removal of such images. If a platform fails to remove the content within 48 hours, it should be reported to the FTC at TakeItDown.ftc.gov. Additionally, parents can utilize the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) Take It Down service, which generates a digital fingerprint (hash) of the image to help prevent its further spread across the internet.