How do I remove leaked content from Facebook or Instagram?
Two different claims can apply to the same image. One says you own it. The other says it's you and you didn't agree to it being shared. Pick by what you can honestly claim, because the two don't rest on the same facts.
If you own it: report copyright
Facebook's terms bar content that infringes someone else's rights, copyright included, and say Meta can remove, block or restrict it. They also say you can report content you think violates your rights. I couldn't read Instagram's own terms. I tried Meta's help links for Facebook and Instagram, and they wouldn't load beyond a page title, so I can't tell you what they say. Follow the steps in the app's help center at the time you report.
Have these ready before you report:
- the link to each post, reel or story you're reporting, not only the profile
- a link to your original, so the work can be identified
- the statements any copyright notice needs, made accurately
The same terms say Meta can disable or delete an account that repeatedly infringes, so a list of every post from one account is worth keeping.
If it's you: report the image
Meta says you can report nude or sexual photos or videos of yourself, and threats to share them, in its apps. That page links to a separate help article for each app. This route is about you, not about who holds the copyright, so it can fit a photo someone else took.
Stopping it being posted again
Meta points adults to StopNCII for images taken when they were over 18. Your device creates a fingerprint and only that is sent, never the file. It has limits: StopNCII says it can't remove images from the whole internet, only from its participating platforms, and they act only where a match breaks their own intimate-image policy.
What a removal there doesn't touch
A post that only links out to a leak site leaves the file where it is, so the site needs its own notice. And search results are a separate job: see Google and Bing.
My plans list DMCA notices to sites and hosts. Send me the link and I'll tell you straight whether I can file on it, or whether the in-app report is the quicker way.
Under 18, or the images were taken when you were under 18? Don't send them to anyone, me included. Take It Down, run by NCMEC, works from your own device: your file stays there and only a digital fingerprint is shared with participating platforms.
General information, not legal advice. I'm not a lawyer and Abolita is not a law firm. Checked against the linked sources on 6 November 2026, except Meta's two help links, which wouldn't load beyond a page title for my check.
Quick answers
Will the person who posted it be told?
Assume yes for a copyright report. Under the DMCA a provider that removes a subscriber's material is expected to take reasonable steps to notify them. See who sees your name in the guide to DMCA notices and anonymity.
Does StopNCII take down what's already up?
Only on participating platforms, and only if a match breaks their intimate-image policy. It sends a fingerprint for them to compare against their content, and it says plainly that it can't remove images from the whole internet.
Sources
- Facebook Terms of Service
- Facebook help link (wouldn't load for my check)
- Instagram help link (wouldn't load for my check)
- Meta: intimate image abuse and sextortion
- StopNCII: how it works
- NCMEC: Take It Down
Related
See what's out there, free.
The free scan needs only your username: no account, no card. It checks hundreds of known leak sites and gives you a report link with every link it found. Send me that link and I'll remove one page free, so you see it work before you pay anything.