Remove porn images and videos from the internet

Getting sexual images and videos of you taken down

By Yair Cohen, Solicitor specialising in internet law. Updated 1 October 2026.

This guide is part of our pornography and adult content law section.

If sexual images or videos of you are online and you want them gone, in most cases we can get them taken down, whether they were leaked by an ex, uploaded by a stranger, or are films you agreed to make years ago and now regret. Usually a letter from us to the website or the host does the job. Court is the fallback for the few who refuse. This guide explains what we can remove, how we do it, how long it tends to take, and how we stop it coming back.

What we can get taken down

We can go after content wherever it sits: adult tube sites and paid sites, social media and video-sharing platforms, file-sharing services, forums, and the search results that lead people to all of them. Most clients come to us with one of three situations. Someone has shared images of them without consent, in many cases an ex-partner. Films they made when they were younger have spread across dozens of sites they never agreed to. Or someone has found out who they are and is posting their real name next to old clips, to harass them.

The last of these is more common than people expect. Even where a performer used a stage name, someone with a grudge sometimes tracks down the real person and adds their name to video titles and tags, so the link between the two is hard to break. That can amount to harassment under section 1 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, and we deal with it alongside the removal work.

How we get content removed

We start with letters and formal notices, because they work in most cases and they are fast. Which notice we use depends on the content and the site, and on most matters we use several at once.

An intimate image of you is your personal data, and data about a person's sex life is one of the special categories that get extra protection under Article 9 of the UK GDPR. That can give you the right to have it erased under Article 17 of the UK GDPR, and in our experience most sites comply once a solicitor makes the request properly. Where an image was shared without your consent, the person who shared it has committed a criminal offence since 31 January 2024 under section 66B of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, unless they reasonably believed you agreed. Sites tend to respond quickly once that is pointed out to them.

Copyright helps too. If you took the photos or filmed the video yourself, you usually own the copyright under section 11 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and a copyright notice is one of the quickest ways to get a host to act. Where a producer owns the rights to old films, we can sometimes buy those rights back, or register your stage name as a trade mark, so that you control the content from then on.

Search results are handled separately. Google has a removal process for personal sexual content, and we use it so that the content stops showing up against your name even before every site has taken it down.

When the content is spread over hundreds or thousands of links, we use our own tool to log every web address, track which ones have come down and chase the rest. If a site refuses, we can ask the court for an order, which is covered in privacy injunction to remove a porn video.

How long it takes

It depends on how far the content has spread. A single video on a site that responds to a solicitor's letter usually comes down quickly. A large back catalogue of old films, copied across dozens of sites over many years, is a bigger job, and a full clean-up of that kind typically takes between 12 and 24 months. Most clients notice the difference much sooner, because the most visible copies and the search results are dealt with first.

We do not stop at removal. Once the content is down, we keep watch for new uploads and act on them as they appear, so you are not left checking the internet for yourself.

If you agreed to the filming at the time

Agreeing to a film years ago does not mean it has to stay online forever. A release form can sometimes be challenged, for example where you were pressured or misled or did not understand what you were signing, and the site showing the film also needs a valid right to publish it. The grounds come from several places at once: contract law, where a form signed under threats, undue influence or on the strength of something untrue can be undone; data protection law, where consent to publishing data about your sex life has to be freely given and informed and can be withdrawn at any time under Article 7(3) of the UK GDPR; and privacy law, where a release form counts against you but does not decide the matter. We explain each of them, with the law behind it, in is a release form by porn film actor valid. If you agreed freely at the time and simply regret it now, regret over porn film covers your options. If you were pushed into it, sexual coercion and pornography is the place to start.

Agreeing to a film years ago does not mean it has to stay online forever.

If the images were shared without your consent

If an ex-partner or anyone else has shared intimate images of you, or is threatening to, you can usually go to the police and bring a civil claim, and you do not have to choose between them. Our guides on revenge porn legal advice and how to remove revenge porn from the internet set out what to do. If someone is demanding money or anything else in return for not posting, read sexual blackmail and sextortion straight away.

Cases we have handled

A man who had been homeless was paid £180 to appear in a film and begged the maker not to publish it. The video stayed online for nearly three years and reached almost 200,000 views. We traced the anonymous operator of the site to a home in Essex, where he turned out to be a headteacher. He took the videos down and paid compensation, and once journalists we had briefed contacted him he took his whole site offline, removing the videos of hundreds of other men with it. Read the case of Mario Rogers, the porn headmaster.

A mother who had made adult films as a young woman, under pressure and in a language she did not read well, feared they would reach her employer and her child. We challenged the release agreements she had signed with four production companies in the UK and abroad and secured her control over most of the content. Read the removal of old online adult content case study.

Frequently asked questions

Can you remove porn videos of me from the internet?

In most cases, yes. We use data protection, copyright and harassment notices, and the criminal law where the content was shared without consent. Most sites take the content down once a solicitor writes, and a court order is the fallback for those that refuse.

How long does it take to remove porn videos from the internet?

A single video on a site that responds usually comes down quickly. A large collection of old films spread across many sites typically takes between 12 and 24 months to clear fully, although the most visible copies and the search results are dealt with first.

Can you get the videos removed from Google search results?

Yes. Google has a process for removing personal sexual content from its results, and we use it alongside the removal work on the sites themselves, so the content stops appearing against your name.

I signed a release form. Can the video still be removed?

In many cases, yes. A release form can sometimes be challenged, and the website showing the film also needs a valid right to publish it. We start by asking the publisher to show that right, and many cannot.

What stops the videos coming back?

Once the content is down, we keep watch for new uploads and act on them as they appear. Where it fits the case, we also take control of the rights in the films, so that we can stop new copies at source.