Your new crush asked for an intimate pic and you sent it. Now, it’s online and being shared on social media. Since June 4th, 2025, people who are victims of non-consensual sharing of intimate images have a new way to quickly stop the spread of their images.
It’s never your fault if someone shares an intimate image of you without your consent, whether you’re the one who sent it or not. Even if you’re the one who took the picture or video, only you have the right to decide who can see these images of you.
This means that if someone shares intimate images of you without your consent, they’re committing a crime. This is the case no matter how the sharing is done: online, through direct messages on social media, in person, etc.
If the photo is of someone under 18, the person sharing the photo could even be accused of distributing child pornography.
What is an “intimate image”?
It could be a picture or a video of certain parts of the body, such as breasts or genitals. The picture or video could also show explicit sexual acts. Intimate images also include audio recordings of a sexual nature and altered or AI-generated images of someone.
The people pictured in these images expect that they will remain private and not be shared.
A new recourse to quickly stop the spread of an intimate image
Since June 4th, 2025, people who are victims of non-consensual sharing of intimate images have access to a new recourse before the civil courts to quickly stop the spread of an intimate image. The law introduced a simple and fast procedure to address this crime.
If you are a victim of non-consensual sharing of intimate images, you can file an urgent application by filing a form online or at a courthouse. The Quebec government prepared a short guideto help you fill out the form.
Thanks to this new recourse, you can ask a judge of the Court of Québec to order someone to stop sharing an intimate image of you and to destroy all copies of it. The court can also order someone who’s threatening to share an intimate image to not share it and destroy the image. It can also order that a link allowing to access an image be removed.
Who can file an application?
If you’re 14 or older, you can apply on your own, without telling your parents. If you’re under 14, your parents must apply for you.
With your consent, someone else can file an application on your behalf. For example, it could be a trusted adult, a teacher or someone from an organization that supports people who are victims of a crime.
You do not need to inform the person who’s sharing or threatening to share the intimate image that you plan on filing an application, and you don’t have to send them a copy of the form.
Once the form is submitted, the Court of Québec will process it as soon as possible. If the court grants the order, it will stay valid permanently for the images and people named in your application, unless the court states otherwise. If the image is later shared by new people or appears on other websites, you might need to make a new application.
Anyone who goes against the order, for example, by continuing to share the image, can face consequences. They could be fined between $500 and $5,000 for each day they ignore the court’s decision. In some cases, they could even face up to 18 months in jail.
Suing for damages in civil court
Other than asking the civil court to order someone to stop sharing or threatening to share an image, you can also sue the person before a civil court. You could receive compensation for the harm you suffered.
Usually, in a civil lawsuit, you have to prove that the other person committed a fault, that you suffered harm, and that their actions caused that harm. But in cases involving intimate images, there’s now a presumption that the person who shared an intimate image committed a fault. This means:
- You don’t have to prove fault.
- The person who shared the image must prove they did not act wrongfully or commit a fault.
This makes it easier for people who are victim of non-consensual sharing of intimate images to pursue legal action.