Report content or a user

1. Reporting from inside the chat

Every message in a room or a private conversation, every image and voice note, and every profile carries a report button. To report someone streaming on webcam, open their profile and press it there, while the stream is live where you safely can, because streams are not recorded. Choose a category:

• Illegal content: terrorism; child sexual exploitation and abuse; intimate images; threats or harassment; hate; fraud; drugs or weapons; other illegal content.
• Rule breaches: content or behaviour that breaks the Community Rules without being a crime — for example, spam or adult content outside the rooms set aside for it.
• Something else, with a free-text box.

Add a short description if you can. The person you report is never told who reported them. Guests can report in the same way as members.

2. Reporting without an account

You do not need to be a ChatNow user to report. If you are affected by content on ChatNow — an image of you, a message about you — or you are a parent, carer or other third party, email safety@chatnow.fr with:

• where the content is (room name or "private message") and the username of the person concerned;
• when it happened — date, time and your time zone — because guest content is deleted 24 hours after the guest leaves;
• what happened and which category above it falls under;
• screenshots or copies of the text if you have them, but never forward an intimate image or any image of a child — describe it and tell us where it is;
• whether you are the person affected or acting for them, and how we can reach you. You may report anonymously; we are then unable to tell you the outcome.

3. Intimate images shared without consent

An intimate image is a photo or film showing you nude or partly nude, in underwear or engaged in a sexual act, including an image altered or generated to look like you. Sharing it without your consent, or threatening to, is an offence under section 66B of the Sexual Offences Act 2003; cyberflashing — sending an unsolicited image of genitals — is an offence under section 66A.

If an intimate image of you is on ChatNow, use the "Intimate images" category of the report button or email safety@chatnow.fr; you or someone acting for you can do so with or without an account. Under section 10(3A) of the Online Safety Act 2023 we remove the image as soon as reasonably practicable and no later than 48 hours after a valid report; the report reaches the on-call member of staff immediately. The removed image is hashed so it cannot be uploaded again, every upload is also matched against the hashes victims register with StopNCII.org, and the account that shared it is sanctioned up to a permanent ban.

Beyond ChatNow, StopNCII.org lets you create a hash of your image on your own device so that participating platforms block it, without the image leaving your device, and the Revenge Porn Helpline (0345 6000 459) supports adults in the UK facing intimate-image abuse. If you are under 18, see section 4.

4. Child safety reports

ChatNow is for adults only, but if you see sexual content involving a child, an adult attempting to groom or sexually communicate with someone they believe to be a child, or a user you believe is under 18, report it immediately with the "Child sexual exploitation and abuse" category or by email to safety@chatnow.fr. Do not download, save, forward or share the content: possessing or sending it is itself an offence, and we do not need a copy.

These reports are handled immediately by a member of staff on call 24 hours a day. Confirmed content is removed, the account permanently banned, the evidence preserved, and a mandatory report made to the National Crime Agency. You can also report directly: grooming or online sexual abuse to CEOP, the NCA's child protection command, and sexual images of children to the Internet Watch Foundation. If you are under 18 and an image of you has been shared, Report Remove, run by Childline and the IWF, can get it taken down. Our full policy is on the Child Safety & Safeguarding page.

5. Emergencies

If someone is in immediate danger — a threat of violence about to be carried out, a person about to take their own life, a child at risk right now — call 999 (or 112) before reporting to us. ChatNow cannot dispatch police, ambulance or any emergency service, and we see a report only when a member of staff opens it. Once the emergency services are informed, report to us so that we can preserve the evidence and cooperate with the police. If you are struggling yourself, the Samaritans are free on 116 123, day and night.

6. What happens after you report

• Acknowledgment within 24 hours, with an indication of when to expect a decision. Intimate-image and child-safety reports are escalated to the on-call member of staff at once.
• Decision within 7 days for standard reports. A moderator assesses the content against UK law and the Community Rules and, where we have reasonable grounds to believe it is illegal or breaks the rules, removes it and applies a sanction: removal, temporary mute, reduced visibility, temporary or permanent ban, or termination.
• Notification. We tell you the outcome and, if we did not act, why. The user concerned is separately notified of any decision with the reason, the rule or law relied on, whether automation was involved and how to appeal. You can ask at any time to receive no further messages about your report.
• Confidentiality. Your identity is never disclosed to the person you reported, and is shared with the police or the courts only where the law requires.
• No retaliation. Reporting in good faith never counts against you, even if we decide not to act, and any user who harasses someone for reporting is sanctioned.
• Abusive reports. Reports made in bad faith to harass another user, or mass reports designed to silence lawful speech, are themselves a breach of the Community Rules and lead to sanctions against the reporter.
• If you disagree with the outcome, ask for a review on the Complaints & Appeals page; a different human reviewer decides within 14 days.

7. Reporting to the authorities directly

Reporting to ChatNow does not replace a report to the authorities; you can do both.

• Fraud or scams: Action Fraud (England, Wales and Northern Ireland); in Scotland, Police Scotland on 101.
• Threats, harassment, hate crime, stalking: your local police on 101, or 999 in an emergency.
• Grooming or online child sexual abuse: CEOP Safety Centre; sexual images of children: IWF.
• Under 18 and an image of you is online: Report Remove; Childline 0800 1111.
• Intimate images (adults): Revenge Porn Helpline and StopNCII.org.
• Suicidal thoughts or self-harm: Samaritans, 116 123.

Police forces and courts can ask us to preserve and disclose evidence through our Law Enforcement & Authorities Guidelines.

8. Copyright and defamation

These two complaints follow their own statutory procedures and are handled by legal@chatnow.fr, not the report button. For infringement of your copyright or other intellectual property, use the notice-and-takedown procedure on the Copyright & Intellectual Property Complaints page. If you believe a statement about you is defamatory, send a notice of complaint as described on the Defamation Complaints page. See also Staying Safe on ChatNow.