Tech companies will be ordered to take down intimate images shared without a victim’s consent within 48 hours, under new laws to protect women and girls.
Through an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, companies will be legally required to remove the content no more than 48 hours after being made aware of it. Platforms that fail to act could face fines of up to 10% of their qualifying worldwide revenue or have their services blocked in the UK.
Plans are currently being considered by Ofcom for these kinds of images to be treated with the same severity as child sexual abuse and terrorism content, using digital markers so they are automatically removed every time they are posted.
Guidance will be published for internet providers setting out how they should block access to sites hosting the harmful content, and will target ‘rogue websites’ that may fall outside the reach of the Online Safety Act.
Prime Minister Keir Stamer said:
“As director of public prosecutions, I saw firsthand the unimaginable, often lifelong pain and trauma violence against women and girls causes. As prime minister, I will leave no stone unturned in the fight to protect women from violence and abuse.
“The online world is the frontline of the 21st century battle against violence against women and girls. That’s why my government is taking urgent action: against chatbots and ‘nudification’ tools.
“Today we are going further, putting companies on notice so that any non-consensual image is taken down in under 48 hours.
“Violence against women and girls has no place in our society, and I will not rest until it is rooted out.”
Emma Pickering, head of the technology-facilitated abuse and economic empowerment team at Refuge, said the charity applauds the news.
She added:
“Refuge sees firsthand the devastating impact that intimate image abuse has on survivors. In 2025, referrals to our team soared by 62% compared to the previous year, reflecting a deeply concerning rise in tech-facilitated abuse across the board.
“It is a huge and long-overdue step forward that the government has now recognised intimate image abuse as a ‘national emergency’ and, crucially, backed this up by practical measures to tackle it head-on.
“Survivors often face significant barriers when trying to get images removed and kept offline, including inconsistent and slow responses from platforms that can take days, or even weeks, prolonging survivors’ distress and amplifying the harm they experience.
“Time and time again, tech platforms have prioritised profit over the protection of women and girls. Holding these companies properly to account is essential.”
However, Pickering said the government could do more to protect women and girls from online image abuse.
“While these new measures represent a significant and welcome step forward, the government can and should go further by upgrading Ofcom’s VAWG guidance into a legally enforceable code of practice. This would require tech companies to comply or face enforcement action – sending a clear message that platforms cannot profit from abuse without consequence.”
