Online behaviour that makes you feel distressed, unsafe or unable to focus on your studies is not okay.

LSE can support you, even if you're unsure what the behaviour is called, or if the person is not connected to LSE.

The situation might be something like:

• Someone keeps sending you unwanted messages even after you've asked them to stop
• People are discussing you in a group chat you're not a part of
• Someone is threatening to share images or private messages
• Someone keeps tagging you in abusive posts or comments, or making abusive comments aimed at you
• Intimate images you shared privately have been forwarded to others
• AI-generated intimate images of you are being shared online
• Your ex keeps monitoring you online
• Someone created a fake account pretending to be you.

Witnessing online harassment, abuse or harmful content can be upsetting, particularly when it involves someone you know or a member of the LSE community. You do not need to be directly affected by the behaviour to seek advice or report concerns.

Depending on what you have witnessed, you may wish to report the content to the platform you viewed it on (like Instagram or TikTok), speak to LSE, or access specialist guidance.

What is intimate image abuse?

• Intimate image abuse, sometimes referred to as 'revenge porn', or ‘image based sexual abuse’, can include behaviours of intimate images shared or taken without consent, or threatened to be shared
• Synthetic content or ‘deepfakes’ are sexual images of adults created using AI technology
• ‘Sextortion’ is when intimate images or videos are used for financial exploitation and coercion
• ‘Voyeurism’ is taking a private or sexual image of someone without their knowledge, and ‘upskirting’ is a subsection of voyeurism which is specifically taking image or video beneath the clothing.

Resources to help you

The Revenge Porn Helpline supports all adults (18+) who have been affected by any form of intimate image abuse in the UK. They can provide support and resources for intimate image abuse, sextortion, voyeurism, upskirting and synthetic content.  

Stop Non-Consensual Intimate Image Abuse is a free service for adults (18+) that can help stop intimate images or videos being shared online without your consent. It's available worldwide.

If you're worried that someone may share an image, you can use StopNCII.org to help participating social media and online platforms detect and remove the content. You don't need to upload your images to the website, and the service cannot view or store them. For more information on how Stop NCII do this, please visit their webpage where you will find a short explainer video. 

Take it down is a free service that helps young people under 18, or adults whose intimate images were taken when they were under 18, prevent the online sharing of those images.  

Intimate image abuse, online harassment or other online harms may be used as part of a wider pattern of abuse.

Sharing or threats to share images, personal information or other private content may be used to silence, isolate and control within an abusive relationship.

For more information on this, please view our information page on domestic abuse.

If you've received suspicious messages, been targeted by a phishing scam, or are worried about online fraud, visit our Scams and Fraud Advice page for practical guidance on protecting yourself and reporting concerns.

You can also contact the cyber helpline: The Cyber Helpline (external resource). 

If you're worried that a child or young person may be experiencing harm online, support and reporting options are available.

If you believe a child is at immediate risk of harm, contact the police by calling 999.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (CEOP) helps keep children safe from online grooming. CEOP is part of the police service and sits within the National Crime Agency. If you suspect an adult is communicating with a child inappropriately, or a child is being sexually abused online, report it to CEOP.

If you're worried about something a child or young person may have experienced online, you can also contact the NSPCC Helpline (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) for free support and advice. 

If you become aware that someone under the age of 18 has experienced online abuse in the course of your role at LSE, it is important that you respond appropriately. Please visit our Safeguarding at LSE webpage to report it. 

• If you're concerned about an LSE student who is aged under 18, complete an LSE Student Cause for Concern form. 
• If you're concerned about someone under the age of 18 who is not an LSE student, please email the LSE Safeguarding team: LSE.Safeguarding@lse.ac.uk. 

You can choose to report online harm to the social media or web platform, to LSE, and / or to the police.

Reporting to a social media site

Social media sites have options to report harmful content on their platform. The links below take you to reporting pages for popular platforms:

• Instagram: report violations of community guidelines
• How to report content on TikTok
• How to block and report someone on WhatsApp
• Report violations of X rules and terms of service
• Report content on Facebook
• How to report content on Snapchat.

The guidance provided by Report Harmful Content explains different types of online harms and how you can report them to different social media platforms. They also offer a service to review reports of harmful content if you've already submitted a harmful content report to a social media platform and received an unsatisfactory reply. 

Reporting to LSE

Use LSE's reporting platform, Report + Support, to report what's happening to the School. Anyone can use this platform.

You can report anonymously or with contact details, you can report harm you have experienced or witnessed, and you can use this regardless of who the reported person or perpetrator is.

Reporting to the police

Report crimes to the police.

The Metropolitan Police website has information about reporting crimes, including specific information for reporting hate crimes, domestic abuse, and stalking or harassment.

Support outside of the UK

If you're looking for support outside of the UK, you can explore support services by country here: International Resources – Cyber Civil Rights Initiative.

You can also get in touch with Global Support Service | Cybersmile Support – an international charity offering support and guidance.  

Immediate assistance

If you need immediate assistance:

• On campus, call security on 020 7955 6555 
• In Halls, call or go to reception
• If there is an emergency, call 999. 

Whatever happened was not your fault and you are not alone. You can get support from LSE.

• Visit the Get support page to find information about LSE Safe Contacts, who can help you navigate support and next steps, and the Independent Sexual Violence Adviser Service.
• You can report what happened using our Report + Support platform, whatever the type of harm and who is involved. Our Report + Support advisers can explore reporting routes and support options with you.
• If what's happening is affecting your wellbeing, mental health or your studies, consider booking an appointment with a Student Wellbeing adviser.
• You can also talk to your subwarden, or another contact in your halls of residence – find their details on the Contacts in halls of residence webpage.