Image-based abuse

What is image-based abuse?

​Image-based abuse is the name for the non-consensual sharing of intimate images. This includes intimate images that have been digitally altered like 'deep fakes'.

Contact Netsafe

If you are concerned about the immediate safety of yourself or someone else, please call 111(tel:111). 

If you want help or expert incident advice, you can contact us. Our service is free, non-judgmental, and available seven days a week.​​

Report online (https://report.netsafe.org.nz/hc/en-au/requests/new)Email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])Text 'Netsafe' to 4282 (sms:4282?body=Netsafe)Live chat support Call 0508 638 723 8am-8pm weekdays, 9am-5pm weekends (tel:0508638723)New Zealanders overseas can call +64 9 666 0840 (tel:+6496660840)

What are intimate images?

Intimate images can be photos or videos of:

• Someone nude or semi-nude. Often these images are produced and shared with someone consensually – this doesn’t mean that this person has consent to share them with others under the law.
• Someone partially nude, with intimate parts of their body showing or covered only with underwear.
• Someone engaging in a sexual act.
• “Up-skirting” or “down-blousing” – where an image is up or down clothing without consent.

What are deep fakes?

Deep fakes(/online-abuse-and-harassment/understanding-deep-fakes) refer to images or videos that have been digitally manipulated to either remove clothing from a non-sexualised image, making the individual appear naked, or to alter the facial identity in an existing intimate image. This form of digital alteration, recognised as image-based abuse, can frequently be exploited in scams, including sextortion,

With technologies ever improving, digitally edited ​​fake nudes are becoming increasingly common and the imagery, more convincing.

Here in New Zealand, it doesn’t matter if an image is real or manipulated – if it’s causing you harm, it may fall under The Harmful Digital Communications Act (HDCA)(/our-work/helpline-services/the-harmful-digital-communications-act).

How to get help if you're experiencing image-based abuse?

Intimate and deep fake images and videos are most often shared with the intention of shaming and humiliating the person being targeted.

If someone has shared an intimate image/video of you or is threatening to do so, report this to the police and contact Netsafe for practical and effective advice. We can often help you get the online content removed and explain the options available under the law.

Our service is free and confidential, and we regularly deal with these types of reports. We won’t ask for copies of the intimate image/video, but we may need you to supply URLs to the content. This is so we can explain to the platform exactly what content needs to be taken down.

 What to do if your images have been shared

1. Screenshot the content and any associated threats to share if you can, and record the URL, the time it was posted and any other relevant details like how it made you feel. Follow our advice on how to record digital evidence here.(/online-abuse-and-harassment/how-to-record-digital-evidence)
2. Report the content to the platform that it’s on
3. Report the profile/account of the person who shared the content
   • Instagram(/social-media-safety/instagram)
   • Facebook(/social-media-safety/facebook)
   • TikTok(/social-media-safety/tiktok)
   • Snapchat(/social-media-safety/snapchat)
   • X (formerly Twitter)(/social-media-safety/x-formerly-twitter)

If you're experiencing online abuse, fallen victim to a scam, or need some advice about another online issue, Netsafe is here to support you.

Our helpline is free, confidential and non-judgmental - providing expert advice and assistance seven days a week.

Report online (https://report.netsafe.org.nz/hc/en-au/requests/new)Email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])Text 'Netsafe' to 4282 (sms:4282?body=Netsafe)Live chat support Call 0508 638 723 8am-8pm weekdays, 9am-5pm weekends (tel:0508638723)New Zealanders overseas can call +64 9 666 0840 (tel:+6496660840)

There are online tools that can help too.

If you have copies of the intimate images/videos that are being shared or you are being threatened with, you can limit the chances of these being shared online by contacting StopNCII(https://stopncii.org/). StopNCII.org also accepts synthetic images (deep fakes(/online-abuse-and-harassment/understanding-deep-fakes)) and deals with them in the same way as genuine content.

StopNCII will generate a digital fingerprint, called a hash, of the images/videos on your device. STOPNCII shares the hash with Industry Partners(https://stopncii.org/partners/industry-partners/) (including all major social media platforms) so they can help detect and remove the images/videos from being shared online. Watch how  StopNCII works(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0HAC1Ndbb0). This is a free service for anyone over 18.

If you’re under 18, you can use takeitdown.ncmec.org(https://takeitdown.ncmec.org/) – a similar free online tool that helps prevents the intimate images or video being shared on platforms such as Instagram(/social-media-safety/instagram), Facebook(/social-media-safety/facebook), TikTok(/social-media-safety/tiktok), Snapchat(/social-media-safety/snapchat), OnlyFans and Pornhub. This tool can also be used for synthetic images (deep fakes(/online-abuse-and-harassment/understanding-deep-fakes)) which are dealt with in the same way as genuine content.

Digital fingerprinting and image-based abuse

If you have experienced image-based abuse, you may also find that your content has been re-shared on different platforms. Once you’ve flagged it, most of the major platforms use a technique called '​digital fingerprinting​​’ to detect repeated uploads.

What is digital fingerprinting?

Digital fingerprinting is the process of creating identification for multimedia files (e.g. a video clip, an audio file, an image). Different algorithms and software are used to create these based on information in the file and they are stored in a database, which can be used to check and stop future uploads.

Digital fingerprinting is commonly used by social media platforms and content creators to help detect copyright violations. Increasingly, platforms are also using this to mitigate the spread of harmful content e.g. child sexual abuse material, extremist content and image based sexual abuse.

Is image-based abuse illegal?

Sharing (or threatening to share) nude or nearly nude images/videos of someone else without their consent can be an offence under The Harmful Digital Communications Act(/our-work/helpline-services/the-harmful-digital-communications-act) (HDCA) and a potential offence under other Acts. If prosecuted under the HDCA, the penalties can be a fine of up to $50,000 or up to two years jail for an individual, and up to $200,000 for a body corporate.

The majority of the criminal prosecutions under the HDCA in its first 18 months were for image-based abuse.

Frequently asked questions

Contact Netsafe

If you are concerned about the immediate safety of yourself or someone else, please call 111(tel:111). 

You can contact Netsafe seven days a week for free, confidential and non-judgmental advice about an online issue impacting you or someone you know.

Report online (https://report.netsafe.org.nz/hc/en-au/requests/new)Email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])Text 'Netsafe' to 4282 (sms:4282?body=Netsafe)Live chat support Call 0508 638 723 8am-8pm weekdays, 9am-5pm weekends (tel:0508638723)New Zealanders overseas can call +64 9 666 0840 (tel:+6496660840)

If you need some further support you can reach out to these free and confidential services: