I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6917 
To protect victims of nonconsensual online distribution of sexually intimate 
images by providing for the expeditious removal of nonconsensual sexually 
intimate imagery on the Internet, to encourage responsible practices 
by online service providers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 26, 2018 
Mr. MESSER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To protect victims of nonconsensual online distribution of 
sexually intimate images by providing for the expeditious 
removal of nonconsensual sexually intimate imagery on 
the Internet, to encourage responsible practices by online 
service providers, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Remove Explicit Mate-
rial Offensive to Victims Expeditiously Act of 2018’’ or 
the ‘‘REMOVE Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Internet and other communications 
technologies have generated tremendous benefits for 
consumers and businesses across all sectors of soci-
ety. The United States is a world leader in har-
nessing these benefits to advance the social and eco-
nomic well-being of its citizens. It is vital that U.S. 
law and policy support these advances and do not 
unduly restrict innovation or inhibit beneficial uses 
of these technologies. 
(2) Like all technologies, the Internet and other 
communications technologies can be misused by ma-
licious actors. These actors often target those in so-
ciety who are most vulnerable, including children, 
the elderly, and those whose circumstances make 
them particularly susceptible to fraud, harassment, 
or abuse. 
(3) In recent years, there has been a dramatic 
increase in the nonconsensual online distribution of 
images depicting the exposure of adult individuals’ 
intimate body parts or depicting adult individuals 
engaged in sexually explicit conduct. In many cases, 
these adult individuals either did not consent to the 
creation of this imagery, or had a reasonable expec-
tation that such material would remain private. 
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(4) The nonconsensual distribution of sexually 
intimate imagery constitutes a gross violation of per-
sonal privacy and human dignity. This distribution 
can have devastating impacts on individuals depicted 
in such imagery, including on their professional 
lives, personal relationships, personal safety, and 
emotional well-being. Persons who intentionally dis-
tribute private, sexually intimate imagery often do so 
to humiliate, degrade, harass, threaten, or extort the 
individuals depicted. 
(5) In some cases, the nonconsensual distribu-
tion of sexually intimate imagery may violate Fed-
eral or State civil or criminal law. In this regard, 
Congress notes efforts by the Federal Trade Com-
mission to address the nonconsensual distribution of 
sexually explicit images through its powers under the 
Federal Trade Commission Act. 
(6) Those who perpetrate the nonconsensual 
distribution of sexually intimate images often rely on 
interactive computer services to facilitate such dis-
tribution. This conduct may violate the terms of 
service or other terms imposed by providers of these 
services. Many providers have adopted policies, 
standards and procedures pursuant to which they 
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will remove or block access to nonconsensual sexu-
ally intimate images upon notice. 
(7) It is in the public interest to incentivize pro-
viders of interactive computer services to adopt and 
enforce policies that are reasonably calculated to re-
move or block access through their services to sexu-
ally intimate imagery that has been distributed with-
out the consent of one or more individuals depicted 
in that imagery. 
SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT TO REMOVE NONCONSENSUAL SEX-
UALLY INTIMATE IMAGERY. 
(a) RULES REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission 
shall prescribe rules in accordance with section 553 of title 
5, United States Code, that require the following: 
(1) PUBLICATION
OF
REGISTRATIONS.—The 
Commission to create and maintain a dedicated web 
page or other online resource, located within or ac-
cessible through the public-facing website of the 
Commission, through which individuals may obtain 
the information submitted by registered providers in 
accordance with paragraph (2). 
(2) 
PROVIDER
REGISTRATION
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—A provider to submit a registration with 
the Commission by providing the following: 
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(A) Current and accurate contact details of 
a single agent, designated to receive the take-
down request form described in subsection (b), 
who is authorized to act on the provider’s be-
half, including the employment title or division, 
email address or other online contact informa-
tion, and telephone number of the agent. 
(B) The URL of the location at which an 
individual may obtain access to and submit to 
the designated agent of a provider a takedown 
request form that meets the requirements of 
subsection (b). 
(3) REGISTRATION BY COMMISSION.—Not later 
than 7 calendar days after the date on which the 
Commission receives a registration that meets the 
requirements of paragraph (2), the Commission to 
register the provider by publishing the registration 
in accordance with paragraph (1). 
(4) REMOVAL OF NONCONSENSUAL SEXUALLY 
INTIMATE IMAGERY.—A designated agent of a pro-
vider to expeditiously review and remove sexually in-
timate imagery if requested by an individual identifi-
able in the imagery if— 
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(A) a takedown request form that meets 
the requirements of subsection (b) is submitted 
to the designated agent of the provider; 
(B) the designated agent of the provider 
can identify the imagery with reasonable cer-
tainty; and 
(C) the imagery was produced in a location 
with a reasonable expectation of privacy. 
(5) STANDARDIZED SEXUALLY INTIMATE TAKE-
DOWN REQUEST FORM.—The Commission to provide 
on its public-facing web page or online resource as 
required under paragraph (1) access to a standard-
ized sexually intimate takedown request form that 
meets the requirements of subsection (b). 
(6) GENERAL GUIDANCE.—The Commission to 
develop and implement a comprehensive awareness 
and educational campaign designed to— 
(A) provide guidance for providers that 
lack a process to expeditiously remove sexually 
intimate imagery from their services; and 
(B) inform Internet users about the re-
sources made available to them by providers to 
request removal of a sexually intimate images 
that have been distributed without the consent 
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of one or more individuals depicted in such im-
ages. 
(7) PENALTY FOR NONCOMPLIANCE.—Penalties 
for a violation of this Act or any rule prescribed 
under this Act— 
(A) that are commensurate with the cir-
cumstance of the offense taking into account 
the totality of the circumstances; 
(B) that are greater for repeat offenders; 
and 
(C) that are greater if the provider solic-
ited the nonconsensual sexually intimate im-
agery or profited from the posting of such im-
agery. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS OF SEXUALLY INTIMATE TAKE-
DOWN REQUEST FORM.—A sexually intimate takedown 
request form satisfies the requirements of this subsection 
if the form requires an individual seeking removal of sexu-
ally intimate imagery distributed without consent of the 
submitter that is available or accessible through a pro-
vider’s service to submit the following information in writ-
ing to the designated agent of the provider as described 
under subsection (a)(2)(A): 
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(1) A URL for each location where a sexually 
intimate image depicting the submitter appears on 
the provider’s service. 
(2) An affirmation that the submitter had a 
reasonable expectation of privacy in the location in 
which each image was taken or recorded. 
(3) A description of any other private informa-
tion that appears in the images. 
(4) An affirmation that the submitter did not 
consent to the distribution of the images on the pro-
vider’s service. 
(5) A statement about whether the submitter 
has sought one or more protective measures in con-
nection with any individual who took or recorded the 
images, any other individual who appears in the im-
ages, or any individual responsible for the distribu-
tion of the images. 
(6) An attestation that the submitter appears 
in the images and that all information provided in 
the takedown request form is true and accurate to 
the best of the submitter’s knowledge. 
(c) INCENTIVES FOR RESPONSIBLE PROVIDER AC-
TION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—No cause of action shall lie 
in any court against any provider (including any of-
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ficer, employee, or agent) if the provider meets the 
registration requirements under subsection (a)(2)— 
(A) for any decision about whether to re-
move sexually intimate images that the provider 
makes in a good-faith response to the submis-
sion of a takedown request form that meets the 
requirements of subsection (b); and 
(B) based on any knowledge obtained in 
the course of the provider’s good-faith proc-
essing of an individual’s takedown request form 
if— 
(i) the Commission has registered the 
provider under subsection (a)(3); and 
(ii) the provider adheres to a publicly 
accessible policy reasonably calculated to 
remove or disable access through the serv-
ices of the provider to the sexually intimate 
images that have been distributed without 
the consent of one or more individuals who 
appear in the images. 
(2) POLICY DEFINED.—In this subsection, the 
term ‘‘policy’’ means a publicly accessible document 
that describes how an individual may submit a take-
down request for sexually intimate imagery, which 
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may be included in the terms of service, a statement 
of community standards, or other document. 
(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Paragraph (1) 
shall not be construed to— 
(A) impair the enforcement of any Federal 
criminal statute; 
(B) limit or expand any law pertaining to 
intellectual property; 
(C) limit or expand section 230(c)(1) of 
the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
230(c)(1)); or 
(D) subject a provider that meets the re-
quirements under subsection (a)(2) to civil li-
ability under State law for not removing sexu-
ally intimate imagery. 
SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS-
SION. 
(a) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRACTICES.— 
A violation of a rule prescribed under section 3(a) shall 
be treated as a violation of a rule prescribed under section 
18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 
U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts 
or practices. 
(b) POWERS
OF COMMISSION.—The Commission 
shall enforce the rules prescribed under section 3(a) in the 
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same manner, by the same means, and with the same ju-
risdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable 
terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission 
Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and 
made a part of this Act. Any violation of such a rule shall 
be subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges 
and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commis-
sion Act. 
SEC. 5. STUDY BY THE COMMISSION. 
(a) EVALUATION.—Not later than 5 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 
conduct a study and submit to Congress a report that— 
(1) provides a detailed analysis of the effective-
ness of the takedown request policies and procedures 
of providers that have registered with the Commis-
sion under section 3; 
(2) evaluates whether these policies and proce-
dures have had a material impact in diminishing the 
public availability of, and access to, sexually intimate 
images distributed without the consent of one or 
more individuals appearing in such images; and 
(3) makes recommendations to Congress, as ap-
propriate, on ways in which the provisions of this 
Act should be updated to take account of new tech-
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nologies or new avenues through which such sexually 
intimate images are distributed. 
(b) STAKEHOLDER INPUT.—The Commission shall 
prepare the study required under subsection (a) by work-
ing with industry, victim and victim support groups, and 
other stakeholders. 
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 
means the Federal Trade Commission. 
(2) IMAGE; IMAGERY.—The term ‘‘image’’ or 
‘‘imagery’’ means a photograph, film, video, or other 
reprographic representation of an individual, wheth-
er recorded or live. 
(3) INTERACTIVE
COMPUTER
SERVICE.—The 
term ‘‘interactive computer service’’ has the meaning 
given that term in section 230(f) of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f)). 
(4) PROTECTIVE MEASURE.—The term ‘‘protec-
tive measure’’ means a restraining order, court 
order, police report, contact with an appropriate vic-
tim’s advocacy organization, or other measure or 
conduct reasonably intended to protect the individual 
seeking the measure against another individual re-
sponsible for or associated with a sexually intimate 
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image that is the subject of a takedown request 
form. 
(5) PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘provider’’ means a 
provider of an interactive computer service. 
(6) SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONDUCT.—The term 
‘‘sexually explicit conduct’’ has the meaning given 
that term in section 2256(2)(A) of title 18, United 
States Code. 
(7) SINGLE AGENT.—The term ‘‘single agent’’ 
means one individual or entity authorized by a pro-
vider pursuant to section 3(a)(2)(A), which may in-
clude an individual, a specific position or title held 
by an individual, a specific department within the 
provider’s organization, or a third-party entity. 
(8) SEXUALLY INTIMATE IMAGE; SEXUALLY IN-
TIMATE
IMAGERY.—The terms ‘‘sexually intimate 
image’’ and ‘‘sexually intimate imagery’’ mean an 
image of a individual that depicts— 
(A) a nude intimate body part; or 
(B) sexually explicit conduct. 
(9) SUBMITTER.—The term ‘‘submitter’’ means 
the individual who submits a sexually intimate image 
takedown request form to a provider. 
(10) TAKEDOWN REQUEST.—The term ‘‘take-
down request’’ means a request to remove or block 
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access to a sexually intimate image that depicts the 
individual submitting the request but was distributed 
without the explicit consent of the individual to pub-
lic distribution. 
(11) URL.—The term ‘‘URL’’ means the ad-
dress of an Internet web page or an item generally 
available on the Internet, such as a file. 
Æ 
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