This can be really overwhelming and can even make you feel really alone. This is not true. You have people that care about you and definitely don’t agree with what has happened or what has been said.
Someone that takes the time to do this has got some pretty significant issues of their own.
There are different steps you can take and the quicker you do these, the less widely things can spread.
There are a wide range of reporting tools that you can use to ask for the photos or videos to be taken down.
It does need to breach the Guidelines or Standards of the Platform to be removed. The more quickly that you do this, the less potential there is for it spreading more widely.
Reports are taken more seriously if they are made by the person who is targeted by the post or photo rather than a friend.
Check out the icons below for how to report to the different platforms
If the photo, post or comment is really serious and causing you or your family to feel really hurt or distressed, you can report it to Netsafe.
Taking screenshots can help you to show what is going on. They have a trained and supportive team who can help you to take additional steps if they are needed.
To find out more about Netsafe and how to make report a problem, check out the SERVICES section.
This may be against the law as the Harmful Digital Communications Act has penalties for people that use electronic communications to cause someone else harm or ‘serious emotional distress’.
Depending on what information or content is being shared on the page or site, the Police may also be able to be involved.
Netsafe can help you to identify what options you have available.
Check out ‘The Law’ section for more information. If it involves nudity or sexually explicit content, you might also want to check out the ‘NUDES’ section.
Try not to focus on what is being said by going back to check if there is new content, or how many people are liking or commenting, this will just keep you feeling really low.
Give yourself some space to spend time with people that care about you or doing things you enjoy.
This might mean spending some time offline so that you don’t get stuck in what is happening online.
Take some time to talk to someone about what is going on and how it is making you feel.
Their perspective or experience might help you decide on your next steps. Even if it doesn’t, opening up to someone means you are not holding onto all of that hurt on your own.
It can also be really helpful to speak to a helpline or counsellor to get specialist support and be able to move forward.
Lara talks about a guy pretending to be her boyfriend on his Social Media and sharing details about ‘dates’ they had been on. She talks about the fact that people believe what they see online without questioning it.
Eve talks about her boyfriend logging into her social media account and sending messages which led to issues for her.
Ellie talks about having a Tinder profile set up in her name and what she did about it.
Jack talks about finding out someone was impersonating him on Grindr and getting the account taken down.
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