Internet users are exposed to a lot of content these days. Whether it’s on the news, social media, or the Internet, there is always a new and exciting story to be reported on. But what if you’re not sure whether or not a website is illegal? What if you want to report something that has questionable content? Here are some tips for how you can report websites for illegal content.
How to Report a Website for Illegal Content?
Most of the websites are hosted at the servers of different companies. If you want to report a website, then contact the web hosting company and inform them that they have to take action against this website. Search engines: The search engines like Google, Yahoo!, Bing, etc. should remove any illegal content from their search results. You can also report illegal content on these search engines as well as other social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
What Is Illegal Content?
To report a website for illegal content, you need to know what is considered illegal. There are many different things that can be considered illegal content. For example, pornography is illegal in most countries. It’s also illegal for someone under the age of 18 to view porn online. But there are some websites that have questionable content online that may not be entirely against the law.
Tips For Reporting Websites For Illegal Content
Get Google search results
The first step to reporting a website for illegal content is to get a sense of what the website is about. You can start by doing a search on Google to see what other people are saying about the site. If you don’t find anything, check out the website and see if it has any questionable content. If it does, report it!
Report it on websites like Wikipedia
If you find something that looks like it could be illegal content, report it on sites like Facebook and Wikipedia. These websites will often have an “Inappropriate/Illegal Content” tab that you can use to report websites for illegal content or inappropriate behavior.
Report on social media websites
When doing your initial search, try searching for keywords related to the website in question on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. This will help you keep track of how many people are talking about the website in question so you can gauge your success with your complaint later on down the line.
Reach out to different sources
Once you’ve found something questionable on a website, reach out to different sources such as online news outlets so they can do their own research into whether or not this site should be reported for illegal content or not before contacting websites themselves and waiting days for feedback.
Contact the website owner
If you can’t find anything questionable on the website, contact the website owner. You can do this by sending them an email or calling them on their phone if they have one. If you have a problem with a specific page, explain the problem and what happened to cause it in detail. If you don’t have a specific page that is causing your problem, describe what you saw that caused your concern.
Send emails to the FCC
You can contact the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) directly by sending them an email at icrap@fcc.gov or calling them at 1-888-CALL FCC (1-888-225-5322). The FCC is responsible for regulating Internet content and advertising, such as websites and online advertising. They will not take action against websites if they are not violating federal law, but they may be able to help you if you are unsure about whether or not something should be reported.
Contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
You can also contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) to report illegal content on websites and illegal behavior on social media sites directly. This is a national organization that works with law enforcement agencies to help them deal with online crime, including hacking and cybercrime. You can contact them by calling 1-888-CALL-FBI (1-888-225-5324).
Contact your local police department
If you want to take action against a website, you must contact your local police department in order to file a report against the website or social media site in question. This will involve filling out an official form that will be kept confidential as long as possible so that the website or social media site in question doesn’t know about it and can’t retaliate against you for reporting them or taking action against them. The police department will then investigate the website, determine whether or not it is violating local laws, and then take action against the website or social media site.
File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau
If you can’t find anything illegal on the website, contact your local Better Business Bureau to file a complaint against the website in question. This is a nonprofit organization that works to help people resolve disputes over products and services with businesses that they have purchased from in the past. You can contact them by calling 1-888-BBB-FCC (1-888-235-3244).
Contact your state attorney general’s office
If you think that a website is breaking state or federal law, contact your state attorney general’s office directly and ask them if they have any information about what websites are breaking such laws, who is breaking them, and how many websites are doing so, as well as any action that might be taken against these websites for breaking these laws.
Additional Steps To Help Your Complaint Move Forward
If your complaint is against a website that has been reported before, you may need to take additional steps to ensure that your complaint gets reviewed. Make sure to send multiple notices and follow the suggested steps below.
Step 1: Include in your notice:
- The exact URL of the website in question;
- A clear explanation of what content is being infringed upon;
- Your contact information (name and address);
- A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
- An indication that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner whose work is allegedly infringed. The best way to send these notices is through certified mail with a return receipt requested with a signature requirement. If your complaint involves more than one site, send a separate notice for each site.
Step 2: Send your complaint to the website hosting the content in question.
If you have a good faith belief that the content hosted on your website is not authorized, you may send your complaint to the site’s webmaster (the person who manages the website) directly. Make sure to include in your complaint:
- The exact URL of the page(s) being complained about;
- A clear explanation of what content is being infringed upon;
- Your contact information (name and address);
- A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by law, or by the web site’s webmaster, and
- An indication that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner whose work is allegedly infringed.
Step 3: Send a DMCA notice if applicable.
If you believe that someone has violated your copyright, then you can file a DMCA notice.
- If you have a good faith belief that the use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by law, or by the website’s webmaster, then send a notice to the site’s webmaster and include:
- A clear explanation of what content is being infringed upon;
- Your contact information (name and address);
- A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by law, or by the website’s webmaster, and
- An indication that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner whose work is allegedly infringed.
Conclusion
The above article is meant to be used as a guide for reporting websites and social media sites that are breaking the law but are not necessarily illegal. You should contact your local police department or FBI if you have any concerns about a website or social media site that you believe is breaking the law. You should also contact your local Better Business Bureau to file a complaint against the website.