A common complaint I hear from clients is that there is an unwanted and troublesome photo of them on social media that they want removed. Often, it is of an embarrassing or compromising nature and from their university or school days, taken at a social occasion by them or a friend.
Sometimes, however, it is a private or sexual image or video taken by an ex-lover or partner, who has posted the photo online in an act of revenge or to humiliate the subject. Such images can even be posted on ‘revenge porn’ websites or shared on WhatsApp with social or community groups.
This issue is becoming ever more prevalent, particularly as artificial intelligence (AI) and deepfake technology make it easier to warp images.
It has become such a problem that, in January 2025, the UK Government announced that it would make creating sexually explicit deepfake images a criminal offence, with perpetrators facing up to two years behind bars for taking intimate images without consent.
Even where images are not sexually explicit or intimate, however, you do have legal rights that can help you remove these images from the internet.
Copyright
In intellectual property (IP) law, the person who creates an image normally owns the copyright. A photographer, for example, would own the copyright in a photo they have taken. In order for someone who had not taken the photo to be able to use it, they would need to obtain a ‘licence’ from the copyright owner. The ownership in copyright can also be ‘assigned’ to another person by way of a formal legal agreement.
Data protection
Images of you can also be ‘personal data’ per the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). A person who publishes a photo of you is a ‘processor’ of that data. The UK GDPR requires the processor to demonstrate certain legal justifications for publishing the photo, one of which is that the ‘consent’ of the data subject is required.
Criminal
If private or sexual images of you are shared online against your will and are designed to harm you, then this is a criminal offence under the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 and the Communications Act 2003. Sharing, or threatening to share, intimate images, including deepfakes, is also an offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, following amendments made by the Online Safety Act 2023. You have a legal right to report the perpetrator.
Social media terms and conditions
All social media companies have user Terms and Conditions. Often, an image may fall foul of these T&Cs, for example if it constitutes bullying, harassment or intimidation. Most platforms have a reporting tool to remedy these situations.
If you have posted images of yourself on social media, then deleting them from your profile should delete them from other users’ photos. That being said, it is easy for images to be shared, saved or ‘screenshotted’, making it hard to know the extent to which a photo has been published online. To avoid this, the best approach is to ensure that nothing is shared without your explicit consent, and that any of your social media or other online accounts have robust privacy settings.
If a photo was posted by a friend and not you, a quick solution is simply to ask the friend to delete the image. If this doesn’t work, then use the tips above to manage the situation.
If in doubt, please contact the reputation management team at Gateley Legal.