Intimate Image Abuse: The 2023 Online Safety Act Offences

Until 2024 the main intimate image abuse offence was section 33 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 — but it required prosecutors to prove the defendant intended to cause distress. This made many cases hard to prosecute, especially "for a laugh" sharing, malicious harassment without distress intent, and commercial uses.

The Online Safety Act 2023 (Schedule 14) inserted new sections 66A-66D into the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The key changes:

• Section 66A: simple basic offence of sharing without consent. No "intent to cause distress" required. The mere act of sharing intimate images without consent is enough.
• Section 66B: threatening to share, with the same simple structure.
• Section 66C: aggravated form with intent to cause alarm, distress, or for sexual gratification (or recklessness). Higher penalty.
• Section 66D: taking intimate images without consent. Wider than up-skirting; covers any non-consensual intimate recording.

The previous up-skirting offence (s.67A SOA 2003) and the s.33 CJCA 2015 offence were repealed. The new framework is the single statutory regime.

A separate offence was introduced by the Online Safety Act 2023 for creating or sharing digitally manufactured intimate images. The key elements:

• Creating a digital image showing a person nude, partially nude, or engaged in sexual activity, where the person did not consent to the creation.
• Sharing such an image.

The deepfake offence reflects the explosion of AI-generated synthetic intimate images, which had been falling through cracks in the previous legislation. The offence applies even where the underlying image is generated entirely (no real photograph involved) and where the depicted person is not informed.

This is a significant new criminal offence and has been used since 2024 for cases involving school students using AI to generate intimate images of classmates, and in adult cases involving public figures.

If intimate images have been taken, shared, or threatened:

1. Call 999 if there is an immediate threat of further distribution or harm.
2. Call 101 or report online for non-emergency cases. The police will investigate; victims have automatic anonymity from the report onwards.
3. Get a crime reference number.
4. Preserve evidence — screenshots showing the images, URLs, dates, and the platform. Save in a secure location and provide copies to the police.
5. Don't reply to the perpetrator — block them. Continued contact can complicate evidence.

The Revenge Porn Helpline (0345 6000 459, run by SWGfL, free, 9-5 Mon-Fri) offers specialist support: emotional support, advice on legal options, and active assistance with platform takedowns. They have established relationships with major platforms and can secure removals faster than individual users.

Three routes for removal:

• StopNCII.org — a service operated by the Revenge Porn Helpline. You upload the image to your own device (it does not go to the service); a digital hash is generated and shared with participating platforms (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Bumble, Reddit, more) which then prevent re-upload of matching images. The image itself never leaves your device. Used by tens of thousands of victims.
• Platform reporting — every major platform has an intimate-image abuse reporting category. Use it; the response should now be faster under the Online Safety Act 2023 platform duties.
• UK GDPR right to erasure — if the perpetrator is hosting the images on their own website, request erasure under Article 17 UK GDPR. Failure to comply is enforceable by the ICO.
• Civil injunction — for repeated breaches or where the perpetrator is a known individual, a court injunction can restrain further sharing. Specialist solicitors handle these.

The Revenge Porn Helpline assists with all of these routes and has direct platform contacts. Use them — DIY platform reporting is hit-and-miss; specialist intervention is much faster.

Victims of intimate image abuse have automatic lifetime anonymity from the date of complaint under section 1 Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 (as amended). This means:

• No publication of name, address, school/employer, image, or anything likely to identify the victim.
• The anonymity applies during and after the case, whether or not the defendant is convicted.
• Breach of anonymity is itself a criminal offence.

In court:

• Special Measures under Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 — screens, video link, removal of wigs and gowns.
• Section 28 pre-recorded cross-examination is rolling out for adult sexual offence cases — see Phase 14 Batch 15.
• Restraining orders can be imposed on the defendant pre- and post-conviction.

Sentences for intimate image abuse offences range from a community order or fine for one-off basic offences to multi-year custodial sentences for aggravated cases. The court considers: number of victims, distribution scale, age of victim, intent to humiliate, prior offending.