Accidentally came across illegal content online, how should I report it
Using a throwaway because this seriously disturbed me and I'm so terrified to admit this happened but it is messing with my head and I don't have balls to tell anyone in person. I’m embarrassed about this. (23F)
A couple days ago between 9–11 PM, I was scrolling twitter watching random videos and came across a post of a child. (Not going to give details about video to prevent anyone searching for this.) The post itself didn’t immediately seem suspicious, just a child being silly. But I remember some odd hashtags including #teenager and #limit. There was also a linked comment underneath from an account with an anime girl profile picture, and out of curiosity I clicked it.
The link appeared to redirect through multiple disturbing and likely illegal websites (idk if those things are necessarily illegal too but it was really sad) before landing on what appeared to be a CSAM website. The second I realized what I was looking at, I closed everything, deleted twitter, shut my phone off and cried. I did not save, download, or share anything.
(I’ve been pretty shaken up since and regret not immediately reporting the account and the link before deleting the app. I can't get any of that out of my head, can’t sleep, and I don't think l've ever cried this much in my life. I realize I did this all to myself by clicking random links all willy nilly and I have NO ONE to blame but my grown self for what I saw.)
But I don’t want anyone else to see that, so what’s is the proper way to report something like this after the fact without revisiting the site or link myself? Should I contact local police, the FBI, or the CyberTipline? Do I download it back to report the twitter post? Should I find the post or the user with the link to give to them? Do I give them my phone?
I’m not posting this to spread anything or ask for links/share links or share any details. And I WON’T give any details about anything I saw to anyone anywhere. I am genuinely disturbed by what I saw and want to make sure I handle it correctly and prevent anyone else from stumbling across it.
(My friend has advised me against searching for the user or the post itself and leave it up to police as she thinks I stumbled upon a distributor. Edit: I have been fully informed as to why)