Revenge porn laws in New York give you two separate ways to fight back when someone shares intimate images of you without your consent: a criminal charge under Penal Law Section 245.15, and a civil lawsuit under Civil Rights Law Section 52-b that can win you money damages and a court order forcing websites to remove the content. Both laws took effect in 2019, and both now cover AI-generated deepfakes alongside real photos and video. You can pursue either track, or both at once.
What Sharing Is Illegal
A person commits unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate image when they intentionally share an image showing someone’s exposed intimate parts or sexual activity, and they did so intending to cause the victim emotional, financial, or physical harm.1New York State Senate. New York Penal Law PEN 245.15 – Unlawful Dissemination or Publication of an Intimate Image That intent requirement is the heart of the crime. An accidental forward or a share without malicious purpose does not meet it.
The person who shared the image also has to have known, or reasonably should have known, that you did not consent to its publication. Agreeing to let someone take a photo is not the same as agreeing to let them share it. The statute protects you even if the image was created with your knowledge, as long as you had a reasonable expectation it would stay private.1New York State Senate. New York Penal Law PEN 245.15 – Unlawful Dissemination or Publication of an Intimate Image
The statute defines an “intimate part” as the naked genitals, pubic area, anus, or female nipple. The image can be a photograph, video, or any visual depiction from which you can reasonably be identified, whether from the picture itself or from information shared with it.1New York State Senate. New York Penal Law PEN 245.15 – Unlawful Dissemination or Publication of an Intimate Image
Deepfakes and AI-Generated Images
Both the criminal and civil statutes cover images “created or altered by digitization.” Under the criminal law, that means realistically altering an image using another person’s likeness or computer-generated imagery. The civil law defines digitization even more broadly, reaching the use of software, machine learning, artificial intelligence, or any other technological means to create a realistic depiction.2New York State Senate. New York Civil Rights Law CVR 52-B – Private Right of Action for Unlawful Dissemination or Publication of an Intimate Image If someone generated a fake nude of you with AI and shared it to hurt you, both laws apply.
Criminal Penalties and How To Report
Unlawful dissemination of an intimate image is a Class A misdemeanor. A conviction can bring up to 364 days in jail3New York State Senate. New York Code PEN 70.15 – Sentences of Imprisonment for Misdemeanors and Violation and a fine of up to $1,000.4New York State Senate. New York Code PEN 80.05 – Fines for Misdemeanors and Violations The court can also impose probation or community service, and the conviction stays on the offender’s permanent record, affecting employment, housing, and professional licensing.
To start a criminal case, contact your local police department or the district attorney’s office in the county where the sharing happened or where you live. Some New York counties have specialized cybercrime or sexual offense units with victim hotlines.
Before you report, preserve the evidence. Take screenshots of the images in context. Record the URLs and platform names. Save any messages from the person who shared them. Note the dates you first discovered the content. The same documentation supports a civil case later.
Suing for Damages and a Removal Order
Separate from any criminal case, you can file a civil lawsuit under Civil Rights Law Section 52-b. The civil standard is broader than the criminal one: you only need to show the person shared or published the image for the purpose of harassing, annoying, or alarming you, not that they intended to harm your welfare.2New York State Senate. New York Civil Rights Law CVR 52-B – Private Right of Action for Unlawful Dissemination or Publication of an Intimate Image The case does not depend on whether criminal charges were ever filed, and it uses the lower “preponderance of the evidence” standard rather than “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The civil law also covers threats. Someone who threatens to share your intimate images, even if they never follow through, can be sued under this statute.2New York State Senate. New York Civil Rights Law CVR 52-B – Private Right of Action for Unlawful Dissemination or Publication of an Intimate Image
A successful lawsuit can win you:
- Compensatory damages for actual losses like therapy costs, lost wages, and emotional distress.
- Punitive damages when the conduct was especially malicious or reckless.
- Injunctive relief, meaning a court order telling the defendant to stop.
- Attorney fees and court costs, which removes a major barrier for victims who could not otherwise afford to sue.2New York State Senate. New York Civil Rights Law CVR 52-B – Private Right of Action for Unlawful Dissemination or Publication of an Intimate Image
Section 52-b also lets you go directly after the websites hosting the images. You can bring a special proceeding for a court order requiring a site to permanently remove the content, as long as the site is subject to personal jurisdiction in New York. The order can reach any copies reasonably within the site’s control.2New York State Senate. New York Civil Rights Law CVR 52-B – Private Right of Action for Unlawful Dissemination or Publication of an Intimate Image A defendant who ignores the order can be held in contempt.5New York State Senate. New York Judiciary Law 753 – Power of Courts to Punish for Civil Contempts
You do not have to choose between the criminal and civil tracks. Many victims pursue both. A criminal investigation can surface evidence that strengthens the civil case, and the civil case is the only path to money damages and direct removal orders.
Getting Content Taken Down Faster
A court order is the strongest removal tool, but it takes time. There are quicker options you can use while a case is pending or instead of one.
The Federal Take It Down Act
Congress passed the Take It Down Act in 2025, adding a federal layer on top of New York law. The Act makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish an intimate image or digital forgery of an identifiable person without consent through an interactive computer service. Publishing nonconsensual images of an adult carries up to two years in federal prison; images of minors carry up to three years. Threats to publish carry the same penalties for real images, and up to 18 months for digital forgeries of adults.6Congress.gov. The Take It Down Act – A Federal Law Prohibiting Non-Consensual Intimate Images
The Act also requires covered platforms to set up a notice-and-removal process by May 19, 2026. Once you submit a written notice identifying the content and stating a good-faith belief it was published without your consent, the platform must remove the image and any known identical copies within 48 hours. The FTC enforces this, treating noncompliance as an unfair or deceptive practice.6Congress.gov. The Take It Down Act – A Federal Law Prohibiting Non-Consensual Intimate Images
Search Engine Removal
Google accepts requests to remove sexual images from search results, whether or not the content was shared with consent. You submit the specific URLs where the images appear, along with screenshots that you can crop to show only your face. If Google approves the request, it may fully remove the page from search results or block it from showing up for queries containing your name, and it tries to find and remove duplicates automatically. The content stays on the original site but becomes far harder to find.7Google Search Help. Remove Personal Sexual Content from Google Search Bing and other search engines offer similar reporting forms.
Document every URL where the content appears before submitting removal requests. Platforms and search engines only review the specific links you give them.
Deadlines for Filing
Both tracks have time limits. Prosecutors must bring criminal charges within two years of the offense.8New York State Senate. New York Code CPL 30.10 – Timeliness of Prosecutions and Related Limitations
The civil deadline is more generous and includes a discovery rule. You must file within three years of when the image was shared, or within one year of discovering (or reasonably being able to discover) that it was shared, whichever is later.9New York State Senate. New York Code CVR 52-B – Private Right of Action for Unlawful Dissemination or Publication of an Intimate Image That matters because victims often learn about the distribution months or years after the fact.
When the Law Does Not Apply
The criminal statute carves out four situations where sharing intimate images is not a crime:
- Sharing images as part of reporting a crime to authorities.
- Use of images in law enforcement, legal proceedings, or medical treatment.
- Images of someone who voluntarily exposed themselves in a public or commercial setting.
- Content published for a legitimate public purpose, such as newsworthy material.1New York State Senate. New York Penal Law PEN 245.15 – Unlawful Dissemination or Publication of an Intimate Image
The civil statute contains identical exclusions.2New York State Senate. New York Civil Rights Law CVR 52-B – Private Right of Action for Unlawful Dissemination or Publication of an Intimate Image
One other boundary matters: New York’s criminal statute states that nothing in it limits or expands the protections Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act gives to interactive computer services for user-posted content.1New York State Senate. New York Penal Law PEN 245.15 – Unlawful Dissemination or Publication of an Intimate Image In practice, that means social media companies and website hosts generally cannot be prosecuted or sued for damages under New York’s revenge porn law for images their users posted. The law targets the person who shared the image, not the platform. The civil removal order and the Take It Down Act’s 48-hour takedown requirement are the tools that still reach platforms directly.