'Take It Down': New Meta-Funded Tool Allows Teens To Remove Sexually Explicit Images

A new online tool called "Take It Down" is allowing teenagers to remove sexually explicit images of themselves from the internet.

The child protection nonprofit, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), announced Monday that they created the free tool — partially funded by Facebook parent company Meta — "to help children regain control."

"Having explicit content online can be scary and very traumatizing, especially for young people," said Gavin Portnoy, vice president of Communications & Brand at NCMEC.

Take It Down is open to people under the age of 18 across the world and allows them to anonymously report nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit photos and videos of themselves online. Adults hoping to remove photos of themselves from before they turned 18 years old can also use the service, according to USA TODAY.

"We created this system because many children are facing these desperate situations," said Michelle DeLaune, NCMEC's president and CEO. "Our hope is that children become aware of this service, and they feel a sense of relief that tools exist to help take the images down."

To start the process of taking the explicit imagery down, the user will first have to have a copy of the photo or video that needs to be removed.

Once the report is submitted, Take It Down assigns a unique digital fingerprint to the imagery. This digital fingerprint (a unique set of numbers referred to as "hash") is then used by participating platforms to detect and remove the imagery and also limit the spread.

The imagery will not be taken down if it is on another website or an encrypted platform (like WhatsApp).

NCMEC assured users that the photo or video that they want removing will never be viewed by someone else and will not leave their device.

If the original image is altered, cropped or has an emoji added, it becomes a new image and, hence, will need a new hash.

The platforms that are currently part of the project include OnlyFans, Meta (Facebook & Instagram), MG Freesites (Pornhub, Mindgeek), and the French social network called Yubo.

Twitter and TikTok are currently not participants in the Take It Down project, according to AP News.

"Take It Down is made specifically for people who have an image that they have reason to believe is already out on the Web somewhere, or that it could be," Portnoy said, as quoted by the outlet. "You're a teen and you're dating someone and you share the image. Or somebody extorted you and they said, 'if you don't give me an image, or another image of you, I'm going to do X, Y, Z.'"

Portnoy also said teenagers might hesitate to reach out to law enforcement for help in such situations. Therefore, they are more likely to use Take It Down since reports can be submitted anonymously.

"To a teen who doesn't want that level of involvement, they just want to know that it's taken down, this is a big deal for them," he added.

Adults who want to take down their sexually explicit images can use the tool called StopNCII, which was launched by the nonprofit called the UK Revenge Porn Helpline. StopNCII can also be used by anyone across the world.