Intimate images shared without your consent in France
In France, sharing an image or recording of a sexual nature without your consent is a criminal offence, even if you agreed to it being taken or took it yourself. You can ask the platform to remove it, file a police complaint and, if the site does not respond, complain to the CNIL (the French data protection authority).
Who it is for
You are an adult and an intimate photo, video or recording of you has been posted online or sent to other people without your consent, in France or on a site accessible in France. If the image was taken before you turned 18, also see the Take It Down guide and talk to a trusted adult.
Time frame
French law sets no fixed removal deadline; the platform must handle your notice diligently (DSA). A site must answer an erasure request within one month (GDPR): after that, you can complain to the CNIL.
Cost
Free (reports, police complaint, CNIL). A lawyer can help but is not required.
Legal basis
French Criminal Code, Article 226-2-1 (created by Law No. 2016-1321 of 7 October 2016): sharing without consent a recording or document of a sexual nature, even if obtained with the person’s consent or made by them, is punishable by 2 years in prison and a €60,000 fine. Depending on the case, also: Article 226-1 of the Criminal Code (invasion of privacy), Article 9 of the Civil Code (right to privacy), Article 17 of the GDPR (erasure) and Article 16 of the DSA (notices to platforms).
The steps
- Keep evidence without re-sharing the images: screenshots showing the address (URL) and date, the account name, messages received. Do not forward the images to anyone.
- Report the content to the platform or host using its form (“Report”, “illegal content”). In the EU it must examine your notice (DSA, Article 16). Say that it is sexual imagery shared without consent, an offence under Article 226-2-1 of the French Criminal Code.
- File a complaint at a police station or gendarmerie, or by letter to the public prosecutor (procureur de la République). If the person responsible is someone you know (for example an ex-partner), this is the route to choose: PHAROS does not handle private matters involving someone you know.
- If the content is visible to everyone and you do not know who posted it, you can also report it on PHAROS (internet-signalement.gouv.fr), which passes reports to investigators. In an emergency, call 17 (police in France).
- Ask the site to erase your images (GDPR right to erasure). If you get no satisfactory answer within a month, complain to the CNIL with proof of your request.
- To limit further sharing, you can create a digital fingerprint of your images with StopNCII (without sending them). For support and guidance, call 116 006 (free victim support line in France).
What to prepare
- The exact address (URL) of each post
- Dated screenshots with the URL visible
- The name or username of the account that posted, and any threatening messages
- An identity document (to file a complaint)
- A short account: how the images were obtained, and when and how you found out they had been shared
- Proof of your removal requests (acknowledgements), useful for the CNIL
Official links
- PHAROS – report illegal online content (French Ministry of the Interior)
- CNIL – asking for your image to be removed online (in French)
- CNIL – file a complaint online (in French)
- Service-Public.fr – how to file a police complaint in France (in French)
- Google – remove personal sexual content from Search results
- StopNCII – help prevent re-sharing
The limits you should know
- PHAROS passes reports to investigators but does not remove content itself, and it generally does not contact the person who reported.
- Investigators may sometimes deliberately delay a removal for the needs of the investigation.
- If the host is abroad, things take longer; French authorities have no direct means of forcing a host outside the European Union.
- A police complaint aims to have the person prosecuted: it is separate from removal and can take time.
- The CNIL only steps in after a request to the site has gone without a satisfactory answer for a month.
If it doesn’t work
An official form can go unanswered or be wrongly refused. That’s not the end: there are other doors, heavier but effective — the company hosting the site, the company managing its domain name, the laws of your country, the data protection authority. That’s exactly what we do for you, with your agreement.
- Reporting to the platform
- A written request to the site owner
- The domain name registrar
- The hosting company
- Search engines
- The authority or the courts
This information helps you use your rights. It doesn’t replace advice from a lawyer.