A photo of you was posted on Facebook or Instagram without your consent: how to get it removed

1. Who posted the photo, and where?

What to do depends less on the network than on who posted it and who can see it.

2. Keep evidence before you ask

1. Copy the exact link to the post ("…" menu on the photo, then "Copy link"). An account name alone is not enough: Meta asks for specific links.
2. Take dated screenshots of the photo, caption, comments and account name.
3. Note the date you found it and roughly how many people could see it (public or private account).
4. Don't reply publicly under the photo: it can bring it back up in feeds and make things worse.

3. First option: ask the person who posted it

This is often the most common case. A short, non-accusing message is usually enough: "Could you remove the photo of me you posted on [date]? I didn't agree to it. Thanks." Include the link. If they agree, they can delete the photo or remove your tag.

It is not mandatory. Nothing requires you to go through this step before reporting to the platform, especially if the person is hostile, unknown to you, or the photo is intimate.

On Facebook, if you are only tagged in a photo you dislike, you can also remove the tag from the photo itself. That does not delete the photo: it stays visible to anyone who can see the post.

4. Report the photo to Meta

On Instagram

1. Use Instagram's privacy violation reporting form. It is reserved for people reporting a possible violation of their privacy concerning their image or video. Meta does not state that you need an account to use it.
2. Enter your full name, email address and the exact links, and say that you are the person in the photo.
3. For a child: the form says a parent or legal guardian can submit the request for a minor, and that minors aged 13 and over must submit requests themselves for their own content.
4. You can also report the post directly in the app ("…" icon, then "Report") and choose the reason that fits.

On Facebook

1. Use the "Report" link next to the post, photo or comment, as CNIL (the French data protection authority) describes.
2. Use the form "Report a privacy violation on Facebook" in Facebook's Help Center. We could not read the whole page, so choose the option in the form that matches your case (photo of you, of your child, or of someone else).
3. Give the exact links, the reason (you did not agree) and what you want: removal of the photo.
4. A photo on a private account can be reported too, but Meta needs the exact link to the post.

What Meta can answer: remove the photo, leave it up, or ask for more details (for example to confirm it is you). Meta can refuse, for instance if the photo is judged newsworthy or you are not identifiable. A refusal is not final: see section 6. We did not find an official response time specific to these forms, so don't count on a set delay.

5. GDPR: the erasure request (article 17)

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) gives a right to erasure (article 17): you can ask for data about you, including your image, to be deleted, notably if the processing is unlawful or if you withdraw the consent it relied on.

Three points to know:

1. Purely personal use is outside the GDPR (article 2(2)(c): "purely personal or household activity"). A photo shared among friends on a restricted account generally falls under that exception. A public account, a page, an association or a business posting your image does not always benefit from it, so the GDPR can then apply.
2. The right has limits: freedom of expression and information, a legal obligation, or the defence of legal claims can restrict it (article 17(3)).
3. Deadline: the controller must answer within one month, extendable to three months for complex requests, with an explanation. If you get no answer, you can file a complaint with a data protection authority (in France, the CNIL).

CNIL also notes that platforms cannot ask for "abusive, irrelevant and disproportionate" proof, and recommends using the platform's own reporting first.

6. If Meta doesn't answer or refuses

1. Resend through the same form, adding what was missing: precise links, that you are the person pictured, that you did not agree.
2. Use the Digital Services Act (DSA) route: large platforms must offer a way to notify illegal content and give reasons for their decisions. State the legal basis you rely on (for example article 9 of the French Civil Code). Reuse the wording of our takedown request template.
3. Contest the decision through the platform's internal appeal, then if needed through a certified out-of-court dispute settlement body or a court (DSA article 21).
4. Contact CNIL if your erasure request got no answer within a month: cnil.fr/fr/adresser-une-plainte.
5. Deal with copies: if the photo shows up in search results for your name, you can ask the search engine to delist it, as CNIL recommends.

7. What the law says

Image rights. In France, image rights come from article 9 of the Civil Code, which guarantees everyone respect for their private life. According to service-public.fr, publishing a recognizable photo of an adult requires their permission, preferably written. For a minor, parental permission is needed. Exceptions exist: crowds or street scenes that do not single someone out, news events, or a public figure carrying out their duties (under conditions).

If the photo is not removed. Service-public.fr says you can ask the publisher to remove it, file a police complaint or report to the prosecutor, ask a judge for urgent measures (summary proceedings, "référé") for fast removal, or claim damages.

Criminal law. Article 226-1 of the French Criminal Code punishes recording or transmitting, without consent, the image of a person in a private place, with one year in prison and a €45,000 fine. Article 226-8 punishes publishing a montage or altered image without the person's consent, unless it is obvious or stated. These rules do not cover every photo: a photo taken in a public place falls mostly under civil law.

Intimate photos. If the photo is intimate, faked or edited (a face on another body), rules and remedies are stronger: see fake nude photos and leaks: what to do. This is general information; to know what to do in your own case, talk to a lawyer or the police.