If you want to request that a video be removed from Facebook, there are a few steps you can take. Here is an overview of how to ask Facebook to delete a video that has been posted on the platform.
Try contacting the person who posted the video
The easiest solution is often to contact the individual who originally shared the video and ask them to remove it. If you know the person, send them a direct message politely asking them to take down the video because you are uncomfortable with it being shared publicly. If it was posted in a private group, you can leave a comment under the video itself making the same request.
Give them the benefit of the doubt that they may have shared it without realizing you did not want it posted. Ask them to remove it as you do not feel it is appropriate for the video to be online. If the person is understanding, they may voluntarily delete the video from their profile or Facebook group.
Use Facebook’s reporting tool
If contacting the poster does not work, the next step is to report the video within Facebook. This tells Facebook you want the content removed and starts their review process. Here is how to report a video on Facebook:
- Go to the video post on Facebook. Click the three dots in the upper right corner.
- Select “Find Support or Report Post” from the dropdown menu.
- Choose the option “I think it shouldn’t be on Facebook.”
- Select “It’s unauthorized use of my intellectual property.”
- Choose the content you want to report – the video, photo, comment, etc.
- Explain why you think the content is unauthorized. For example, “This is a video of me that I did not consent to being shared publicly.”
- Click “Submit Report.”
Facebook will review your report and determine if the video violates their community standards policies around privacy, harassment, or unauthorized sharing of intimate media. If they agree the video is problematic, they will remove it from Facebook. This process can take anywhere from a few hours up to a few days in some cases.
Report the video to law enforcement
For situations involving videos of a more serious nature – such as abuse, assault, violence, or crime – you may want to file a report with your local law enforcement in addition to contacting Facebook. They have ways to potentially request removal of content that violates local laws.
To report a video to law enforcement:
- Contact your local police department or sheriff’s office.
- Explain you want to file a report regarding a video posted on Facebook without your consent.
- Provide details on what the video contains and who posted it.
- Ask what options they have for getting unauthorized or explicit videos removed from platforms like Facebook.
- Cooperate with any investigation process they initiate and provide relevant evidence like screenshots or profile links.
Law enforcement has specific ways of contacting social media companies regarding potentially illegal content. Depending on the nature of the video, they may be able to get it removed from Facebook more quickly than you can through reporting alone.
File a privacy complaint with Facebook
If reporting the video does not lead to its removal, you can escalate the issue by filing a privacy complaint directly with Facebook’s Data Privacy team. This is a more formal complaint process you can initiate if you feel Facebook is improperly handling your personal information by allowing the video to remain public.
To submit a privacy complaint:
- Go to Facebook’s Privacy Complaint Form.
- Enter your name, Facebook details, and contact information.
- Select the option “Content is shared without my consent.”
- Provide information on when and where the video was shared, by whom, and details on your prior attempts to have it removed.
- Explain why this non-consensual sharing of your personal information is a violation of your privacy rights.
- Include any evidence that supports your complaint, like screenshots of where the video is posted or messages exchanged with the uploader.
- List any law enforcement reports or other actions taken.
- Click submit.
Facebook’s privacy team will review your complaint and follow up if they need additional details. They have teams dedicated to investigating privacy violation claims who can compel video removals if they agree your privacy rights have been breached.
Issue a legal notice takedown request
If you have already attempted to report the video through Facebook’s internal channels and did not receive an acceptable resolution, the next option is to have a lawyer issue a formal notice and takedown request. This involves legal action notifying Facebook they are required to remove the infringing content.
Key steps to getting a lawyer to request a video takedown include:
- Consult with a lawyer who specializes in internet law and privacy rights. Intellectual property lawyers are also an option if the video contains copyrighted material.
- The lawyer can draft a notice to Facebook on legal letterhead asserting the posting of the video without your permission is unlawful.
- The notice will typically cite violations of laws like copyright infringement, right to privacy, or harassment statutes.
- It will request immediate takedown of the specified content.
- The letter acts as an official notice that failure to comply could lead to further legal action.
The lawyer can send this takedown notice directly to Facebook’s registered copyright agent and legal departments. Facebook must respond promptly to avoid liability under various state and federal laws regarding privacy, harassment and IP.
File a lawsuit against the video poster
If all other options to get the video removed from Facebook are unsuccessful, the last resort is taking legal action against the individual who uploaded it without consent. A lawyer can help you file a civil lawsuit claiming damages like:
- Violation of privacy rights
- Intentional infliction of emotional distress
- Harassment, defamation or slander
- Violating internet posting or criminal laws
You can sue for monetary damages, attorneys costs and court injunctions requiring removal of the video. Filing the lawsuit itself, even without going to court, can convince the poster to delete it rather than get embroiled in litigation.
Use Facebook’s facial recognition tool
Facebook has facial recognition technology that allows you to report videos containing your likeness for takedown. Follow these steps:
- Go to Facebook’s Face Recognition tool under Settings & Privacy.
- Choose “Add Videos” to let Facebook scan videos on the platform for your face.
- Any videos you are identified in will be added to your list of “Matched Videos.”
- Select the videos you want to report then click “Request Video Takedown.”
- Explain these contain images of you used without consent.
- Facebook will review the matches and should remove the unauthorized videos with your face.
Leveraging Facebook’s own facial recognition gives you a straight-forward way to find and report violating videos for removal. You don’t need to hunt them down yourself if Facebook’s algorithms can identify them automatically using your facial template.
Remove tags linking your profile
Another option is to report and remove any tags connecting your profile to the unauthorized video. This makes the content less visible and disassociates you from it.
To delete tags:
- Click on the video to open it fully on Facebook.
- Look below the video for any tags linking your profile. They may say something like “With [Your Name].”
- Click the X icon next to the tag to delete it.
- Repeat this process to remove all tags associated with your profile from the video post.
Without your profile tagged, the video becomes less connected to you within Facebook. This can make it harder to find and limits its reach and visibility to others. Removing tags is a good temporary solution while pursuing the video’s complete removal.
Disable video downloads
To prevent the video from being downloaded or shared further on Facebook, you can disable the download option:
- Click the three dots above the video post.
- Select “Edit Post.”
- Toggle “Allow Others to Download This Video” to off.
- Save the changes.
With downloads disabled, other users can’t save copies of the video to redistribute. This limits its spread across Facebook while you continue pursuing removal options.
Block the video from your profile
If the video has been shared to your own Facebook profile, you can remove it from public view while logged in as yourself:
- Go to your profile and click “Posts.”
- Find the video post and click the three dots in the upper right corner.
- Select “Hide from Timeline.”
- Confirm by clicking “Hide Post.”
This does not delete the video, but hides it from your profile timeline. Other users could still see it if visiting your profile while logged out, but it limits visibility. It’s a temporary solution while pursuing full deletion methods.
File a complaint with Facebook’s Oversight Board
Facebook has an independent Oversight Board that reviews content moderation cases and can overturn Facebook’s decisions. Filing a complaint with them stating Facebook improperly allowed the video to remain posted is an alternate option.
To submit a case request to the Oversight Board:
- Go to OversightBoard.com
- Click “Submit a Case” on the upper right.
- Search for the specific video content in question.
- Select “This content should be removed”
- Explain why it violates community standards and norms around consent, privacy and harassment.
- Include information on your attempts to have Facebook remove it.
- Submit the case request.
The Board will evaluate whether Facebook erred in allowing the content to remain posted. If they agree it violates standards, they can compel Facebook to take the video down.
How Facebook evaluates video takedown requests
When you ask Facebook to delete a video through any of the above means, they will assess the request against the following criteria:
- Whether you are identifiable in the video based on image, name, voice, or metadata tags
- If you deny giving consent for the video to be shared
- What context and intent the video was uploaded under
- If the contents are distressing, harmful, sexualizing, or harassing in nature
- Whether privacy laws or rights would be violated by the video remaining
- If you made reasonable efforts to resolve the issue directly with the uploader first
- Steps you’ve taken to report the content through proper Facebook channels
Essentially, Facebook wants to verify this involves truly unauthorized use of your personal intellectual property. The stronger your case that it violates accepted privacy norms without your permission, the more likely Facebook will remove the content.
Preventing unauthorized videos in the future
To help prevent the need to request video takedowns in the future, some tips include:
- Be very selective in who you share personal videos with privately to limit distribution.
- Enable stronger privacy settings on your social media accounts.
- Refrain from taking or sending compromising videos, photos or information.
- Use apps like FaceApp to generate artificial photos rather than real ones if needed.
- Ask recipients to delete videos after they’ve viewed them.
- Avoid linking your social profiles to unknown contacts or sites.
- Periodically check your video visibility and tagged content on all social platforms.
Exercising caution regarding who sees personal media in the first place can reduce the chances of unauthorized sharing. But when videos do get posted publicly without your consent, follow the steps outlined here to pursue their removal.
Conclusion
Having an unwanted video on Facebook can cause embarrassment and privacy violations. If you find yourself in this situation, try the techniques discussed here to get it taken down.
Start by directly contacting the poster if possible and explaining why you want it removed. Escalate to Facebook’s internal reporting tools next to request violating content deletion. For serious legal or privacy breaches, get law enforcement or lawyers involved to compel removal. And enable privacy restrictions on your profile to limit access in the meantime.
With persistence across these reporting channels, you can usually achieve video takedown success on Facebook. Protecting personal privacy and intellectual property takes diligence, but the tools exist to get your rights enforced online.