FTC Orders Amazon, Alphabet, Apple to Comply With Take It Down

The Federal Trade Commission sent compliance letters to more than a dozen technology companies, including Amazon, Alphabet and Apple, asking for details on how they will comply with the Take It Down Act. The law requires platforms to remove non-consensual intimate images when a person requests it and to prevent the same images from being re-uploaded.

The recipients also include Automattic, Bumble, Match Group and Discord. The FTC told companies to describe the procedures and technical steps they will use to identify intimate images posted without consent, to process takedown requests, and to block repeated uploads of the same content.

Under the Take It Down Act, platforms must act after receiving a removal notice for intimate images posted without permission and must implement measures to stop those images from resurfacing. Typical measures used by platforms include user reports, digital hashing to block identical files, and human review to handle disputed or ambiguous cases. The FTC’s letters ask companies to explain which of these or other tools they will deploy, and what policies will govern their use.

The letters follow a familiar FTC enforcement pattern of sending warnings before pursuing legal action. The agency has previously used similar letters to prompt changes by retailers and online services; recipients are given an opportunity to respond with plans for compliance before the commission considers further steps.

The outreach comes amid broader FTC scrutiny of large technology firms. The commission has active antitrust inquiries into Amazon, Alphabet and Apple that examine marketplace practices, app store rules and search services. In 2020 the agency required disclosure of previously unreported acquisitions as part of its enforcement work.

Market reaction to the compliance letters was muted. None of the companies named in the letters registered notable stock declines tied to the announcement.

The letters require companies to provide a timeline and technical or policy descriptions showing how they will meet the law’s requirements. The FTC will review the responses and decide whether additional enforcement actions are necessary if companies do not adequately demonstrate compliance.