My ex-partner is threatening to share intimate photos of me online, what legal protection do I have?

Question

My former partner has private intimate images of me and is threatening to post them online or send them to my family unless I comply with their demands. Before I spend money on it, I want to know whether Information Technology Act, 2000 – Section 67A gives me a remedy here and what proof I would need. Any Section numbers I can quote when I write to them would be useful.

MyVakeel Legal Desk · Accepted Answer

Information Technology Act, 2000 – Section 67A, Information Technology Act, 2000 – Section 66E and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 – Section 77 (voyeurism) is what decides this question in India. Read it alongside the provisions named, because the relief available to you turns on the facts you can prove on paper.

Section 67A punishes publishing or transmitting sexually explicit material electronically with up to 5 years imprisonment and fine up to Rs 10 lakh on first conviction, and up to 7 years on subsequent conviction.

Even the threat to distribute such content (without actual publication) constitutes criminal intimidation and extortion under the BNS, alongside an attempt/abetment charge under the IT Act.

Section 66E (violation of privacy by capturing/publishing images of private parts without consent) and Section 77 BNS (voyeurism, if images were captured without consent) may also apply depending on how the images were obtained.

You do not need to wait for actual publication to file a police complaint — a credible threat to distribute intimate images online is itself prosecutable and police can act preemptively.

Request the platform to pre-emptively hash and block the images using tools like StopNCII.org, which prevents re-upload across participating platforms even before the images are shared.

What to do next: 1) Do not respond to the threats or demands; preserve all messages as evidence; 2) File a police complaint or report at cybercrime.gov.in citing Sections 67A and criminal intimidation; 3) Register the images with StopNCII.org to preemptively block distribution; 4) Seek a protection order if the threat involves an intimate partner.

If you are unsure whether your facts fall inside Information Technology Act, 2000 – Section 67A, that is worth checking with an advocate before you commit to a route, because switching later costs time. You can post the details on the MyVakeel forum for a practising advocate to review, or book a paid consultation with a Bar Council verified lawyer in cyber law.