Platforms as Crime Scene, Judge, and Jury: How Victim-Survivors of Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery Report Abuse Online
Li Qiwei, Katelyn Kennon, Nicole Bedera, Asia A. Eaton, Eric Gilbert, Sarita Schoenebeck
TL;DR
The paper examines how online platforms mediate NCII reporting, arguing that platforms operate as crime scenes, judges, and juries that can reproduce harm through hostile, opaque, and inconsistent processes. Using trauma-informed, semi-structured interviews with 13 US survivor-participants and applying institutional betrayal theory (IBQ-2 framework), it shows that platform design and governance contribute to additional trauma beyond the initial NCII harm. It offers concrete directions for trauma-informed reporting systems, including human-centric support, transparent decision-making, and independent oversight, alongside policy recommendations (e.g., centralized removal mechanisms and stronger cross-platform coordination). The work highlights that accountability should extend beyond perpetrators to the platforms themselves, with implications for design, policy, and survivor care in addressing NCII online.
Abstract
Non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), also known as image-based sexual abuse (IBSA), is mediated through online platforms. Victim-survivors must turn to platforms to collect evidence and request content removal. Platforms act as the crime scene, judge, and jury, determining whether perpetrators face consequences and if harmful material is removed. We present a study of NCII victim-survivors' online reporting experiences, drawing on trauma-informed interviews with 13 participants. We find that platform reporting processes are hostile, opaque, and ineffective, often forcing complex harms into narrow interfaces, responding inconsistently, and failing to result in meaningful action. Leveraging institutional betrayal theory, we show how platforms' structures and practices compound harm, and, in doing so, surface concrete intervention points for redesigning reporting systems and shaping policy to better support victim-survivors