By Hadas Gold, CNN
(CNN) — Online platforms are now required by law to remove non-consensual intimate images within 48 hours of reporting, as a federal law criminalizing the sharing of such content goes into full effect Tuesday.
President Donald Trump signed the Take It Down Act into law last year, which makes it illegal to publish online nonconsensual intimate visual depictions, real or artificially generated. But the act gave online platforms one year to create a process for removing such imagery within 48 hours of notification from users. If online platforms fail to do so, they could face civil penalties of $53,088 per violation. That one year deadline expired on Tuesday.
The provisions now going into effect ensure that tech companies “can no longer turn a blind eye to these horrifying abuses on social media,” Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who co-wrote the bill with Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, said in a statement.
The Federal Trade Commission, which will enforce the law, sent letters to major online platforms last week warning them about compliance. That includes popular social platforms such as Meta, Snapchat, TikTok and X, along with gaming platforms and dating apps Bumble and Match Group, Reddit, Discord, Pinterest and tech giants Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft.
Any business that “primarily provides a forum for user-generated content or regularly publishes, curates, hosts, or furnishes intimate content shared without consent,” is subject to the law, according to the FTC.
The other provision of the law applying to individuals who post non-consensual intimate imagery is already in effect. Violators can face fines and up to two years in prison.
What do the online platforms have to do?
Platforms must provide clear instructions to “make it easy for people to submit a removal request,” the FTC says. They are also responsible for finding and removing duplicates of the reported image or video within the 48-hour window.
The imagery does not have to be real. Artificially generated nonconsensual intimate imagery, sometimes referred to as deepfake porn, is also covered under the act.
Some online services allow users to report such images directly from where they’re posted. On Instagram, for example, clicking or tapping the three dots on the upper right of an image leads to a “Report” button. At the very bottom of that page is a notice with a link to fill out a detailed report.
TikTok users can report a post using the arrow button on the lower right side of the screen. Under the “Sexual content” option is a link to submit a separate report for content related to nonconsensual intimate imagery.
Even Walmart now has an option to report intimate imagery because users can upload images if they sell products on the retailer’s platform.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children also offers a “one step” service “to help remove online nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit photos and videos” of minors.
For adults, an organization called Stop Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery offers support and the option to submit intimate images that participating platforms can view for matches and remove if it violates the Take It Down Act. (The images are translated into hashes, which works like a digital fingerprint.)
The FTC a