diff --git a/content_filtering.go b/content_filtering.go
index c2c5861..0269bd1 100644
--- a/content_filtering.go
+++ b/content_filtering.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"regexp"
 	"slices"
@@ -24,6 +25,44 @@ func hasProhibitedWordOrTag(event *nostr.Event) bool {
 	return pornWordsRe.MatchString(event.Content)
 }
 
+// hasExplicitMedia checks if the event contains explicit media content
+// by examining image/video URLs in the content and checking them against the media alert API
+func hasExplicitMedia(ctx context.Context, event *nostr.Event) bool {
+	// extract image and video URLs from content
+	var mediaURLs []string
+
+	// find image URLs
+	imgMatches := imageExtensionMatcher.FindAllStringSubmatch(event.Content, -1)
+	for _, match := range imgMatches {
+		if len(match) > 0 {
+			mediaURLs = append(mediaURLs, match[0])
+		}
+	}
+
+	// find video URLs
+	vidMatches := videoExtensionMatcher.FindAllStringSubmatch(event.Content, -1)
+	for _, match := range vidMatches {
+		if len(match) > 0 {
+			mediaURLs = append(mediaURLs, match[0])
+		}
+	}
+
+	// check each URL for explicit content
+	for _, mediaURL := range mediaURLs {
+		isExplicit, err := isExplicitContent(ctx, mediaURL)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Warn().Err(err).Str("url", mediaURL).Msg("failed to check media content")
+			continue
+		}
+
+		if isExplicit {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
 // list copied from https://jsr.io/@gleasonator/policy/0.2.0/data/porntags.json
 var pornTags = []string{
 	"adult",
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 76d9a0f..02b8e2f 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ type Settings struct {
 	TailwindDebug       bool     `envconfig:"TAILWIND_DEBUG"`
 	RelayConfigPath     string   `envconfig:"RELAY_CONFIG_PATH"`
 	TrustedPubKeys      []string `envconfig:"TRUSTED_PUBKEYS"`
+	MediaAlertAPIKey    string   `envconfig:"MEDIA_ALERT_API_KEY"`
 }
 
 //go:embed static/*
diff --git a/media_alert.go b/media_alert.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2210579
--- /dev/null
+++ b/media_alert.go
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/url"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/dgraph-io/ristretto"
+)
+
+var mediaAlertCache, _ = ristretto.NewCache(&ristretto.Config[string, bool]{
+	NumCounters: 1e6,     // number of keys to track frequency of (1M)
+	MaxCost:     1 << 24, // maximum cost of cache (64MB)
+	BufferItems: 64,      // number of keys per Get buffer
+})
+
+type mediaAlertResponse struct {
+	Message string  `json:"message"`
+	Score   float64 `json:"score"`
+}
+
+// isExplicitContent checks if the provided URL contains explicit content
+// it returns true if the content is explicit, false otherwise
+// the function handles caching and retries for timeout errors
+func isExplicitContent(ctx context.Context, mediaURL string) (bool, error) {
+	// check cache first
+	if val, found := mediaAlertCache.Get(mediaURL); found {
+		return val, nil
+	}
+
+	// make the API request
+	isExplicit, err := checkMediaAlert(ctx, mediaURL, false)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	// store result in cache
+	mediaAlertCache.SetWithTTL(mediaURL, isExplicit, 1, 24*time.Hour)
+
+	return isExplicit, nil
+}
+
+// checkMediaAlert makes the actual API request to the Media Alert service
+// if retry is true, this is a retry attempt after a timeout
+func checkMediaAlert(ctx context.Context, mediaURL string, retry bool) (bool, error) {
+	if s.MediaAlertAPIKey == "" {
+		return false, nil // skip check if no API key is configured
+	}
+
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, time.Second*30)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, "GET", "https://nostr-media-alert.com/score?"+url.Values{
+		"key": {s.MediaAlertAPIKey},
+		"url": {mediaURL},
+	}.Encode(), nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("failed to create request: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	resp, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("request failed: %w", err)
+	}
+	defer resp.Body.Close()
+	if resp.StatusCode >= 300 {
+		msg, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("got unexpected response %d: %s", resp.StatusCode, string(msg))
+	}
+
+	var result mediaAlertResponse
+	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&result); err != nil {
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("failed to decode response: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	// handle different response types
+	switch result.Message {
+	case "SUCCESS":
+		return result.Score >= 0.90, nil
+	case "TIMEOUT":
+		if retry {
+			// if this is already a retry, don't retry again
+			return false, nil
+		}
+
+		// handle timeout by retrying after delay
+		go func() {
+			// create a new context with timeout for the retry
+			retryCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 60*time.Second)
+			defer cancel()
+
+			// wait before retrying
+			time.Sleep(20 * time.Second)
+
+			// retry the request
+			isExplicit, err := checkMediaAlert(retryCtx, mediaURL, true)
+			if err == nil {
+				// update cache with the result (the expensive stuff we store for longer )
+				mediaAlertCache.SetWithTTL(mediaURL, isExplicit, 1, time.Hour*72)
+			}
+		}()
+
+		return false, nil
+	case "RATE LIMITED":
+		log.Warn().Str("url", mediaURL).Msg("media alert API rate limited")
+		return false, nil
+	case "INVALID MEDIA":
+		log.Debug().Str("url", mediaURL).Msg("invalid media for content check")
+		return false, nil
+	default:
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("unknown response message: %s", result.Message)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/render_event.go b/render_event.go
index 61c50fd..234482a 100644
--- a/render_event.go
+++ b/render_event.go
@@ -96,8 +96,10 @@ func renderEvent(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 	hasURL := urlRegex.MatchString(data.event.Content)
-	if isMaliciousBridged(data.event.author) || (hasURL && hasProhibitedWordOrTag(data.event.Event)) {
-		log.Warn().Str("event", data.nevent).Msg("detect prohibited porn content")
+	if isMaliciousBridged(data.event.author) ||
+		(hasURL && hasProhibitedWordOrTag(data.event.Event)) ||
+		(hasURL && hasExplicitMedia(ctx, data.event.Event)) {
+		log.Warn().Str("event", data.nevent).Msg("detect prohibited content")
 		http.Error(w, "event is not allowed", http.StatusNotFound)
 		return
 	}
diff --git a/render_image.go b/render_image.go
index d727b26..0c7e3dd 100644
--- a/render_image.go
+++ b/render_image.go
@@ -71,7 +71,9 @@ func renderImage(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 	hasURL := urlRegex.MatchString(data.event.Content)
-	if isMaliciousBridged(data.event.author) || (hasURL && hasProhibitedWordOrTag(data.event.Event)) {
+	if isMaliciousBridged(data.event.author) ||
+		(hasURL && hasProhibitedWordOrTag(data.event.Event)) ||
+		(hasURL && hasExplicitMedia(ctx, data.event.Event)) {
 		http.Error(w, "event is not allowed", http.StatusNotFound)
 		return
 	}
diff --git a/render_profile.go b/render_profile.go
index 14a6dbe..c64cd8b 100644
--- a/render_profile.go
+++ b/render_profile.go
@@ -44,7 +44,11 @@ func renderProfile(ctx context.Context, r *http.Request, w http.ResponseWriter,
 		return
 	}
 	if isMaliciousBridged(profile) {
-		http.Error(w, "event is not allowed", http.StatusNotFound)
+		http.Error(w, "profile is malicious", http.StatusNotFound)
+		return
+	}
+	if is, _ := isExplicitContent(ctx, profile.Picture); is {
+		http.Error(w, "profile is not allowed", http.StatusNotFound)
 		return
 	}