Report Remove Childline Tool: What It Does and How to Use It

How do you use Report Remove?

Report Remove is run through Childline's website. Childline describes it as safe, easy and free. The steps it sets out are:

1. Press “Start your report” on Childline’s Report Remove page and choose your age range.
2. Sign in or create a Childline account, so Childline can send you updates on your report.
3. Report your image or video to the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF).
4. Talk to a Childline counsellor if you want extra support, or use the support on the Childline website.
5. Check your Childline locker a few days after your report, to see if you need to add any more information and to see updates.
6. If something goes wrong with the process, send a message from your Childline locker with the subject ‘Report Remove’ and as much information about the problem as you can.

The young person makes the report themselves, with support from a trusted adult if they want it. Childline counsellors can talk to them about anything they are going through.

What counts as a nude image for Report Remove?

Childline says a nude image must include one of the following to be removed:

• •nude or semi-nude sexual posing
• •someone nude or semi-nude touching themselves in a sexual way
• •any sexual activity involving a child
• •someone hurting someone else sexually
• •sexual activity that includes animals

Childline also says it is against the law for anyone to share a sexual image or video of someone who is under 18, and that having nudes shared is not the young person's fault. For the legal position, see our guide to sexting laws in the UK.

Where can Report Remove get an image removed from?

Childline says the IWF can remove images that are public or available to anyone on the internet. The IWF will not be able to remove images or videos on encrypted networks like WhatsApp, or which are saved on a person's phone or computer. For other routes, including reporting to a platform, see how to request content removal.

Childline also says Report Remove covers images and videos that look like the young person but have been faked, including with AI. The IWF assesses them as though they are real.

Do you need ID to use Report Remove?

No, but Childline says confirming your age with ID gives more legal powers to remove images from as many places as possible. If you do not use ID, the IWF can still help by removing your image or video from most sites. If you do use ID, the IWF can remove from all sites.

Childline says you choose an age range at the start (under 13, 13-15, 16-17, or 18 and over). If you are under 13 you go straight to creating a Childline account. If you are 13 or older you are asked whether you have ID, and if you do, you confirm your age through Yoti. Childline lists these forms of ID:

• •passport or biometric residence permit
• •driving licence and provisional licence
• •Young Scot Card (Yoti app only)
• •CitizenCard (Yoti app only)

Whatever ID is used, Childline says it must be valid and in date. The only thing Yoti tells Childline is whether you are under or over 18.

Who sees the image, and will anyone find out?

Childline says only the IWF sees what you report. Childline never sees the pictures, videos or links you share with the IWF. The IWF tells Childline whether it could take the image or video down, and why, so that Childline can let you know. The IWF may also share some information about what was reported to help Childline support and keep the young person safe.

The IWF works with the police. Childline says that most of the time nobody will know a report has been made. If the police already have the image or video, for example because it was reported on another website, they might investigate what has happened, and only the police can decide if they need to tell someone else. Childline says the police are there to protect the young person, not to get them into trouble.

Childline says that images and videos the IWF decides are illegal may be kept by the IWF for up to 2 years, under an agreement with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service. Each illegal image is given a hash (a string of numbers, like a digital fingerprint) that is shared with technology companies so they can look for it and take it down. The image itself is not shared with those companies, but the image and the hash are shared with the police, who store it on their Child Abuse Image Database. Content the IWF decides is not illegal may be kept for a maximum of 6 months for quality checking, then deleted.

How long does Report Remove take?

Childline says the IWF reads all reports within two working days, Monday to Friday, and Childline usually sends a message to the young person's Childline account within two working days to say what is happening. These timings are for reports made through Report Remove; reporting a URL straight to the IWF is a separate route.

How long removal takes depends on where the image is hosted. Childline says an image on a UK-based website can often be removed within 2 to 3 hours, but in some countries it can take longer, sometimes days or weeks, and that IWF analysts will always try to make sure it happens as soon as possible.

What can a parent or carer do?

• •Reassure first. Say clearly that they are not in trouble and that you will sort it out together.
• •Support them to make the report themselves. The young person reports their own image through Report Remove, with your support. Childline (0800 1111) can support them through the process.
• •Do not view, save or forward the image. Possessing an intimate image of a minor is a criminal offence, even for parents. Note the platform, date, time and usernames instead, but do not screenshot the image itself.
• •Report to CEOP if an adult was involved. If the image was sent to an adult, or an adult pressured your child into sending it, report to CEOP. You can report to the police or CEOP at the same time as using Report Remove.
• •Keep supporting them. The NSPCC Helpline (0808 800 5000) offers advice and emotional support for parents.

For step-by-step help, see what to do if your child has sent an intimate image, our image-based abuse reporting guide, and sextortion if your child is being threatened.

Is Report Remove for adults too?

No. Report Remove is for young people under 18. For an image of someone aged 18 or over, our image-based abuse reporting guide points to the Revenge Porn Helpline (0345 6000 459, which cannot help anyone under 18) and StopNCII.org (which cannot take images taken when someone was under 18).