Protect Privacy AI Launches Service to Help Survivors of Image-Based Sexual Abuse Exercise New Federal Rights Under the Take It Down Act

WASHINGTON, May 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As the Take It Down Act takes effect today, requiring platforms to remove "nonconsensual intimate imagery" within 48 hours, Protect Privacy AI is launching a service to help survivors exercise their new rights and to support platforms working in good faith.

The Act creates a federal right to removal, but not the support system survivors need to use it. Most persons victimized do not know where their images are hosted or what to do when a platform misses the deadline. And many platforms do not yet have systems built for the volume of requests they will receive.

Protect Privacy AI closes that gap.

For survivors:

• Takedown submission when a survivor knows where their abuse is hosted.
• Image scanning (in beta) to locate nonconsensual imagery across the web.
• Escalation to the FTC when a covered platform misses the 48-hour deadline,

For platforms:

• A partner for good-faith compliance, focused on preventing re-uploads,

"I spent years walking the halls of Congress alongside survivors, asking lawmakers to pass this federal protection," said Dawn Hawkins, founder and CEO of Protect Privacy AI and former CEO, National Center on Sexual Exploitation. "The Take It Down Act gives survivors a right for removal. Our job is to help them use it, and to help the platforms that want to do this well, do it well. For those that don't, the FTC has the authority to act, and we will help survivors bring those cases forward."

"The scale of image-based sexual abuse is beyond what any nonprofit, attorney, or survivor can handle with today's tools," said Jeff Benson, co-founder and president. "Every day brings new AI-generated images. Meeting that scale requires technology built specifically for it."

A 2025 peer-reviewed study found that more than 1 in 5 adults have experienced image-based sexual abuse, with people under 35 twice as likely to be victims as those over 35 (Umbach et al., CHI 2025).

Learn more at ProtectPrivacy.ai.

About: Protect Privacy AI builds technology to detect, remove, and prevent image-based sexual abuse and exploitative imagery online, providing critical infrastructure for platforms and individuals.

Contact:
Dawn Hawkins, CEO
[email protected]
208-247-5017

SOURCE Protect Privacy AI