NCMEC Launches New Service That Can Help You "Take It Down"

New tool created to fight against exploitation and sextortion of minors.

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has created a powerful tool to help children regain control. Today, the nation's leading child protection organization is announcing a new tool to combat child sexual exploitation and help kids remove their sexually explicit images from the internet. The groundbreaking platform, aptly named, Take It Down, is available now and allows users from around the world to submit a report that can help remove online nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit photos and videos depicting a child under 18 years old. Meta provided initial funding to build the infrastructure for the program that NCMEC launched at the end of December 2022. Since then, more than 200 cases have been submitted.

"Having explicit content online can be scary and very traumatizing, especially for young people," said Gavin Portnoy, Vice President, Communications & Brand, NCMEC. "The adage of 'you can't take back what is already out there' is something we want to change. The past does not define the future and help is available."

A new public service announcement, created by award winning ad agency, VCCP, focuses on the theme of moving forward. This new PSA will appear on platforms that kids frequent to ensure they are receiving the message directly. We cannot go back and change what happened, but we can help you move forward.

Watch the new PSA here.

Take It Down works by assigning a unique digital fingerprint, called a hash value, to specific images or videos. When tech platforms sign up to participate, they are provided these hash values so they can detect and remove the imagery on their public or unencrypted sites and apps. This all happens without the image or video ever leaving a device or anyone viewing it.

"We created this system because many children are facing these desperate situations." said Michelle DeLaune, president and CEO, NCMEC. "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. NCMEC is here to help."

What is it?

• Take It Down is a FREE service that helps tech companies remove sexually explicit images or videos depicting children under the age of 18.

Who is it for?

• Take It Down is for people who want to regain control. It is for individuals depicted in nude, partially nude or sexually explicit images or videos before they were 18 years old that they believe were shared online.
• Users may remain anonymous while using the service.

Participating platforms:

• Meta (Facebook & Instagram)
• MG Freesites (Pornhub, MindGeek)
• OnlyFans
• Yubo

Partner quotes of support:

"We are proud to support NCMEC's launch of Take it Down—the first platform of its kind to help young people prevent the unwanted spread of their intimate images online," said Antigone Davis, Global Head of Safety at Meta. "Meta has worked with NCMEC, experts, and victims to develop this platform and help young people get the resources they need when facing these horrific situations. We look forward to other tech companies joining this effort so we can collectively combat this issue across the internet."

"As a longtime partner of NCMEC, Yubo is committed to helping give power back to young people targeted by exploitation online by supporting the rollout of Take It Down," said Yubo CEO Sacha Lazimi. "Our detection tools will now be able to draw directly from NCMEC's image hash sharing list to ensure even more effective and rapid moderation of inappropriate content. In order to expand our fight against nonconsensual image sharing online, it was important for us to give our users the ability to report content of them circulating anywhere on the internet through Yubo. Users can now find an additional reporting option that, when selected, directs them immediately to the Take It Down site."

More information on Take It Down can be found here: https://takeitdown.ncmec.org/.

Since 1984, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children^®, a private non-profit organization, has led the fight to protect children by creating vital services for them and the people who keep them safe. NCMEC believes that every child deserves a safe childhood and as part of its work as the clearinghouse and resource center on issues relating to missing and exploited children, NCMEC operates a hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST^® (1-800-843-5678), and has assisted in the recovery of more than 400,000 missing children. NCMEC also operates the CyberTipline^®, a mechanism for reporting suspected child sexual exploitation, which has received more than 150 million reports. To learn more about NCMEC, visit www.missingkids.org.

SOURCE National Center for Missing & Exploited Children