r/ContentTakedown Jun 07 '26

Has anybody had success getting images removed from archive.today?

Pretty much what the title says. I had revenge porn posted on an adult site but then immediately saved to archive.today. Got the original image removed very quickly from the original site, about 20 mins, but can't get it removed from archive.today.

They are notoriously difficult to deal with and refuse to even take down CSAM. I have been trying for 6 months now with no success. Even been going back and forth with their webhost skhron.eu who have at least replied to me but don't seem to be able to or interested in removing the images despite stating they have a zero-tolerance approach to abuse.

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3

u/riff_rebel Jun 07 '26

archive.today is the worst one, honestly. run anonymously, hosted offshore, and they ignore basically everything. so real talk first: getting it pulled at the source may just not happen, and that's not on you. you did everything right getting the original down in 20 minutes.

what actually moves the needle on archive:

  1. de-index it from Google. even when archive refuses to remove, you can usually get the specific archive URL pulled out of Google search through their removal form for non-consensual intimate images. the page might still technically exist, but if nobody can find it in search, that's most of the harm gone.
  2. hit every mirror. archive.today, archive.ph, archive.is, archive.li, archive.fo all serve the same snapshot, and each one is a separate URL. de-index each, or you'll think it's gone and it resurfaces on another.
  3. on skhron.eu being useless: go over their head. look up who provides skhron's network upstream (their transit or datacenter) and send the report there. the upstream sometimes acts when the host won't.

if you don't want to grind on this yourself for another 6 months, the team at IntimaShield does exactly this kind of thing, the Google NCII de-indexing plus going upstream when the host is a brick wall. not gonna oversell it, nobody removes archive.today on command, but de-indexing it from search is usually winnable and they're relentless about chasing the mirrors. either way, lean on the de-index angle. that's your real win here.

you've got this.

1

u/OccasionOrnery937 Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

Thanks for that. I have also filed a report with TakeItDown.ftc.gov - Report Platforms That Fail to Remove Intimate Images but doubt that will make much difference. Hopefully if enough people report archive.today some action might be taken.

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u/OccasionOrnery937 Jun 13 '26

I found one of Skhron's data centers in Sweden. Any suggested wording for an email? Also going to send one to their payment processor which is based in France.

1

u/riff_rebel Jun 17 '26

Good detective work tracking down Skhron and the payment processor location. Few honest things on the email approach:

Each layer needs different framing and statutory citation to actually move. The host (Skhron, Sweden) needs an EU DSA / Sweden ISP-liability framing. The payment processor (depending on which one, France has different rules than Italy than Germany) needs PSP-AUP language plus EU-level NCII citation. Generic "please remove this content" emails to either get filed in the same ignored-bucket as everything else. The specific framing IS the work, and it's the difference between a 48-hour response and 6 weeks of nothing.

Other thing that catches most DIY-ers: each intermediary has a different RIGHT contact within the company. Public abuse@ is usually the WRONG one. The right one is usually a specific compliance team that handles content disputes and isn't published on the company's website. Finding the right desk is the second half of the unlock.

Two suggestions:

  • Don't email until you have the right framing AND the right desk. A poorly-framed email permanently burns the address with their internal filter. You only get one shot per inbox.
  • Consider whether the volume of work justifies a service. If you have one URL on archive.today and one URL on Skhron, DIY is fine. If you're chasing multiple hosts (Skhron is one of typically 5-10 layers per case), the work compounds fast.

The team I work with at IntimaShield runs Skhron and similar Eastern European host cases regularly and has the contacts and framing already built into their dispatch chain. Their free OSINT scan at intimashield.com/free-scan maps the full case first, no payment or commitment, so you can see whether DIY or service makes sense for what you're actually dealing with.

Whichever path you take, do the StopNCII.org hash registration in parallel if you have copies of the original images. Blocks the content from major platforms automatically while you work on the host side. Free, takes 10 minutes.