Trump to Sign Take It Down Act: A Controversial Step Against AI Deepfakes and Revenge Porn

Trump to sign law forcing platforms to remove revenge porn in 48 hours

After dragging its feet for years, America is finally taking its first big step toward shielding victims of non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) -- also known as revenge porn -- from constantly being retraumatized online. On Monday afternoon, Donald Trump is scheduled to sign the Take It Down Act into law. That means that within one year, every online platform will be required to remove both actual NCII and fake nudes generated by artificial intelligence within 48 hours of victims' reports or face steep penalties. Supporters have touted the 48-hour timeline as remarkably fast, empowering victims to promptly stop revenge porn from spreading widely online. The law's passing comes at a time when AI-generated revenge porn is increasingly harming a wider pool of victims -- including some who may have never shared a compromising photo, like dozens of kids in middle and high schools nationwide. Acknowledging the substantial harm to kids already, the law includes steeper penalties for NCII targeting minor victims, a threat lawmakers hope will help minors get harmful images removed "as soon as possible." Critics have attacked the 48-hour timeline, though, warning that platforms will be rushed to remove NCII and likely censor a broader range of content online. Trump has claimed that he would use the law to censor content he doesn't like, and the law does not explicitly exempt encrypted messages. So, if platforms decide to break encryption to prevent the liability threat, that could possibly pave the way for officials to censor critics' private messages, critics fear. For these reasons, legal challenges are expected. Whether the Take It Down Act can survive a potential constitutional challenge or not, the 48-hour timeline may be deficient for other reasons, though, victim testimony suggests. Likely wearisome for victims, the law won't be widely enforced for about a year, while any revenge porn already online continues spreading. Perhaps most frustrating, once the law kicks in, victims will still need to police their own revenge porn online. And the 48-hour window leaves time for content to be downloaded and reposted, leaving them vulnerable on any unmonitored platforms. Some victims are already tired of fighting this fight. Last July, when Google started downranking deepfake porn apps to make AI-generated NCII less discoverable, one deepfake victim, Sabrina Javellana, told The New York Times that she spent months reporting harmful content on various platforms online. And that didn't stop the fake images from spreading. Joe Morelle, a Democratic US representative who has talked to victims of deepfake porn and sponsored laws to help them, agreed that "these images live forever." "It just never ends," Javellana said. "I just have to accept it." Andrea Powell -- director of Alecto AI, an app founded by a revenge porn survivor that helps victims remove NCII online -- warned on a 2024 panel that Ars attended that requiring victims to track down "their own imagery [and submit] multiple claims across different platforms [increases] their sense of isolation, shame, and fear." While the Take It Down Act seems flawed, passing a federal law imposing penalties for allowing deepfake porn posts could serve as a deterrent for bad actors or possibly spark a culture shift by making it clear that posting AI-generated NCII is harmful. Victims have long suggested that consistency is key to keeping revenge porn offline, and the Take It Down Act certainly offers that, creating a moderately delayed delete button on every major platform. Although it seems clear that the Take It Down Act will surely make it easier than ever to report NCII, whether the law will effectively reduce the spread of NCII online is an unknown and will likely hinge on the 48-hour timeline overcoming criticisms.

Trump to Sign Bill Banning Deepfakes, Nonconsensual Images: What to Know

Macy has been working for CNET for coming on 2 years. Prior to CNET, Macy received a North Carolina College Media Association award in sports writing. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bipartisan Take It Down Act into law on Monday, a significant step in regulating the nonconsensual sharing of intimate images, including AI-generated deepfakes. The legislation aims to protect individuals from the harmful effects of such content, which has been increasingly prevalent in the digital age with the expansion of artificial intelligence. Read more: Jamie Lee Curtis Celebrates Meta's Removal of Fake AI Ad Deepfakes are realistic but fake images, videos or audio created using artificial intelligence to mimic someone's appearance, voice or actions. One widely reported example was a 2022 viral video of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In the altered clip, Zelenskyy appeared to urge Ukrainian soldiers to surrender to Russian forces, a message he never actually delivered. The video was quickly debunked, but it raised serious concerns about the use of deepfakes in disinformation campaigns, especially during wartime. Deepfakes have also been used to spread sexually explicit content or revenge porn. Read more: Election Deepfakes Are Here and Better Than Ever The Take It Down Act prohibits knowingly sharing or threatening to share intimate images of someone without their permission, including digitally altered or AI-generated deepfakes. Here is a breakdown of the bill and what it targets: First Lady Melania Trump has been a vocal advocate for the legislation over the last several months, emphasizing the need to protect children and teenagers from the damaging effects of online exploitation. Her efforts included public appearances and discussions with lawmakers to garner support for the bill. The bill, introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), gained bipartisan backing, with cosponsors including Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). It passed the Senate unanimously in February, followed by House approval in April with a 409-2 vote. While the act has been praised for addressing a growing issue, it has also faced criticism from various groups. Some digital rights organizations express concerns that the law could infringe on privacy and free speech, particularly regarding the potential for false reports and the impact on encrypted communications. There are also apprehensions about the enforcement of the law and its potential misuse for political purposes. For instance, representatives of The Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, a nonprofit that supports victims of online abuse, voiced strong concerns about the bill, according to PBS News. The group criticized the takedown provision as overly broad, vaguely written and lacking clear protections to prevent misuse. Trump is expected to sign the bill Monday at 3 p.m. ET. This act will mark Trump's sixth bill signed into law so far in his second term. By his 100th day back in office, he had enacted only five, marking the lowest number of new laws signed by a president in the first 100 days of a term since the Eisenhower administration in the 1950s, based on an analysis of congressional records by NBC News. The signing of the Take It Down Act represents a significant move towards regulating nonconsensual intimate imagery in the digital realm. While it aims to provide greater protection for individuals, ongoing discussions will be essential to address the concerns and ensure the law's effective and fair implementation.

Trump to Sign Take It Down Act Targeting Deepfakes, Nonconsensual Images: What to Know

Macy has been working for CNET for coming on 2 years. Prior to CNET, Macy received a North Carolina College Media Association award in sports writing. President Donald Trump on Monday is expected to sign the bipartisan Take It Down Act into law, a significant step in regulating the nonconsensual sharing of intimate images, including AI-generated deepfakes. The legislation aims to protect individuals from the harmful effects of such content, which has been increasingly prevalent in the digital age with the expansion of artificial intelligence. Read more: Jamie Lee Curtis Celebrates Meta's Removal of Fake AI Ad Deepfakes are realistic but fake images, videos or audio created using artificial intelligence to mimic someone's appearance, voice or actions. One widely reported example was a 2022 viral video of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. In the altered clip, Zelenskyy appeared to urge Ukrainian soldiers to surrender to Russian forces, a message he never actually delivered. The video was quickly debunked, but raised serious concerns about the use of deepfakes in disinformation campaigns, especially during wartime. Deepfakes have also been used to spread sexually explicit content or revenge porn. Read more: Election Deepfakes Are Here and Better Than Ever The Take It Down Act prohibits knowingly sharing or threatening to share intimate images of someone without their permission, including digitally altered or AI-generated deepfakes. Here is a breakdown of the bill and what it targets: First Lady Melania Trump has been a vocal advocate for the legislation over the last several months, emphasizing the need to protect children and teenagers from the damaging effects of online exploitation. Her efforts included public appearances and discussions with lawmakers to garner support for the bill. The bill, introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), gained bipartisan backing, with cosponsors including Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). It passed the Senate unanimously in February, followed by House approval in April with a 409-2 vote. While the act has been praised for addressing a growing issue, it has also faced criticism from various groups. Some digital rights organizations express concerns that the law could infringe on privacy and free speech, particularly regarding the potential for false reports and the impact on encrypted communications. There are also apprehensions about the enforcement of the law and its potential misuse for political purposes. For instance, representatives of The Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, a nonprofit that supports victims of online abuse, voiced strong concerns about the bill, according to PBS News. The group criticized the takedown provision as overly broad, vaguely written and lacking clear protections to prevent misuse. Trump is expected to sign the bill Monday at 3 p.m. ET. This act will mark Trump's sixth bill signed into law so far in his second term. By his 100th day back in office, he had enacted only five, marking the lowest number of new laws signed by a president in the first 100 days of a term since the Eisenhower administration in the 1950s, based on an analysis of congressional records by NBC News. The signing of the Take It Down Act represents a significant move towards regulating nonconsensual intimate imagery in the digital realm. While it aims to provide greater protection for individuals, ongoing discussions will be essential to address the concerns and ensure the law's effective and fair implementation.

Trump signs the Take It Down Act into law

Lauren Feiner is a senior policy reporter at The Verge, covering the intersection of Silicon Valley and Capitol Hill. She spent 5 years covering tech policy at CNBC, writing about antitrust, privacy, and content moderation reform. President Donald Trump signed the Take It Down Act into law, enacting a bill that will criminalize the distribution of nonconsensual intimate images (NCII) -- including AI deepfakes -- and require social media platforms to promptly remove them when notified. The bill sailed through both chambers of Congress with several tech companies, parent and youth advocates, and first lady Melania Trump championing the issue. But critics -- including a group that's made it its mission to combat the distribution of such images -- warn that its approach could backfire and harm the very survivors it seeks to protect. The law makes publishing NCII, whether real or AI-generated, criminally punishable by up to three years in prison, plus fines. It also requires social media platforms to have processes to remove NCII within 48 hours of being notified and "make reasonable efforts" to remove any copies. The Federal Trade Commission is tasked with enforcing the law, and companies have a year to comply. Under any other administration, the Take It Down Act would likely see much of the pushback it does today by groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), which warn the takedown provision could be used to remove or chill a wider array of content than intended, as well as threaten privacy-protecting technologies like encryption, since services that use it would have no way of seeing (or removing) the messages between users. But actions by the Trump administration in his first 100 days in office -- including breaching Supreme Court precedent by firing the two Democratic minority commissioners at the FTC -- have added another layer of fear for some of the law's critics, who worry it could be used to threaten or stifle political opponents. Trump, after all, said during an address to Congress this year that once he signed the bill, "I'm going to use that bill for myself, too, if you don't mind, because nobody gets treated worse than I do online. Nobody." The Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI), which advocates for legislation combating image-based abuse, has long pushed for the criminalization of nonconsensual distribution of intimate images (NDII). But the CCRI said it could not support the Take It Down Act because it may ultimately provide survivors with "false hope." On Bluesky, CCRI President Mary Anne Franks called the takedown provision a "poison pill ... that will likely end up hurting victims more than it helps." "Platforms that feel confident that they are unlikely to be targeted by the FTC (for example, platforms that are closely aligned with the current administration) may feel emboldened to simply ignore reports of NDII," they wrote. "Platforms attempting to identify authentic complaints may encounter a sea of false reports that could overwhelm their efforts and jeopardize their ability to operate at all." In an interview with The Verge, Franks expressed concern that it could be "hard for people to parse" the takedown provision. "This is going to be a year-long process," she said. "I think that as soon as that process has happened, you'll then be seeing the FTC being very selective in how they treat supposed non-compliance with the statute. It's not going to be about putting the power in the hands of depicted individuals to actually get their content removed." Trump, during his signing ceremony, dismissively referenced criticism of the bill. "People talked about all sorts of First Amendment, Second Amendment... they talked about any amendment they could make up, and we got it through," he said. Legal challenges to the most problematic parts may not come immediately, however, according to Becca Branum, deputy director of CDT's Free Expression Project. "It's so ambiguously drafted that I think it'll be hard for a court to parse when it will be enforced unconstitutionally" before platforms have to implement it, Branum said. Eventually, users could sue if they have lawful content removed from platforms, and companies could ask a court to overturn the law if the FTC investigates or penalizes them for breaking it -- it just depends on how quickly enforcement ramps up.

Trump will sign the Take It Down Act criminalizing AI deepfakes today

President Donald Trump is set to sign the Take It Down Act today, according to CNN. The act is a piece of bipartisan legislation that criminalizes the publication of "nonconsensual intimate visual depictions," including AI deepfakes. The law made it through the US House of Representatives in April 2025, prompting concern from free speech advocates that believe parts of the law could be easily abused to curtail speech. The Take It Down Act was created to address the spread of nonconsensual, sexually exploitative images online. Laws exist addressing the issue at the state level, and some online platforms already have methods for requesting a nonconsensual image or video be taken down. This new law would set a federal standard, though, making taking down posts mandatory and directing companies to create a system for requesting images or videos be removed, under the supervision of the Federal Trade Commission. The issue with the law as written, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, is that its takedown provision "applies to a much broader category of content...than the narrower NCII [nonconsensual intimate image] definitions found elsewhere in the bill." The EFF also suggests that the short time-frame of 48 hours that the Take It Down Act requires means that smaller online platforms will probably just remove posts when they receive a complaint rather than verify that the post actually violates the law. Trump has expressed interest in taking advantage of the new law, as well. "I'm going to use that bill for myself, too, if you don't mind. There's nobody gets treated worse than I do online. Nobody," Trump said during a joint session of Congress in March. Given the lopsided composition of the current FTC and the Trump administration's already loose interpretation of existing laws, it's not hard to imagine how the original intentions of the Take It Down Act could be twisted.

Trump signs law combating deepfakes and revenge porn

The bill is the sixth piece of legislation Trump has signed in his second term, with the president often preferring to enact his agenda through Executive Orders. The president signed the bill on Monday afternoon at a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, after it was passed by both houses of Congress. He was accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, who White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt previously said was "instrumental" in getting the bill through Congress. It cleared the lower chamber of Congress in a 409-2 vote at the end of April, and was unanimously passed by the Senate in February. Melania Trump has championed the bill since her husband began his second term. In March, she used her first solo public appearance to urge members of Congress to pass the bill. "It's heartbreaking to witness young teens, especially girls, grappling with the overwhelming challenges posed by malicious online content, like deepfakes," the first lady said during a roundtable discussing the bill on 3 March. "In an era where digital interaction are integral to daily life, it is imperative that we safeguard children from mean-spirited and hurtful online behaviour." Revenge porn is sharing an intimate image without consent. Deepfake porn involves creating, often using AI, a fake explicit image or video of a person. Use of the technology has grown in recent years, allowing users to add the faces of celebrities or public figures - most often women - into pornographic films. Tech companies including Meta, TikTok and Google supported the legislation. But it's not without critics. Advocates for digital rights and free speech say it could lead to the censorship of legitimate content, including legal pornography, LGBTQ+ content, and government criticism. "While protecting victims of these heinous privacy invasions is a legitimate goal, good intentions alone are not enough to make good policy," digital rights advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation said. "As currently drafted, the Act mandates a notice-and-takedown system that threatens free expression, user privacy, and due process, without addressing the problem it claims to solve." The Internet Society, which advocates for digital privacy on the internet, says it poses "unacceptable risks to users' fundamental privacy rights and cybersecurity by undermining encryption".

Melania Trump Joins President at White House to Sign Take It Down Act

The bill, known as the Take It Down Act, mandates social media platforms to remove sexually explicit images and videos of others. The president and first lady appeared together in the White House Rose Garden on Monday afternoon so he could sign into law a piece of revenge porn legislation she championed. "I want to thank my husband, President Trump, for standing with us on this effort," Melania Trump said, a riot of pink roses in bloom behind her. The bill, known as the Take It Down Act, mandates social media platforms remove sexually explicit images and videos of others that were taken or posted without consent, including A.I.-generated "deepfake" content, within two days of being notified of them. It was written with teenage victims in mind. "Artificial Intelligence and social media are the digital candy for the next generation -- sweet, addictive and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children," the first lady said. "But unlike sugar, these new technologies can be weaponized, shape beliefs and, sadly, affect emotions and even be deadly." Mrs. Trump had been pushing for the passage of this bill pretty much since the day of her husband's second inauguration, when it was first brought up to her by Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, during an inauguration-day lunch. The bill dovetailed neatly with Be Best, Mrs. Trump's anti-cyberbullying initiative from the first Trump term. In early March, she made a rare appearance in Washington to hold a roundtable on Capitol Hill with girls who had been victims of online smear campaigns, as well as the father of a young boy who died by suicide as a result of online "sextortion." It was emotionally charged, teary at times, and the next day, Mrs. Trump took some of those guests with her to the House chamber to watch the president's address to Congress, in which he mentioned the bill. The passage of the Take It Down Act represented a rare moment of comity in the capital, clearing with overwhelming bipartisan support, 409 to 2. It was introduced by Ms. Klobuchar and Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas. "Many thanks to members of Congress, both parties for passing this legislation," Mrs. Trump said. "Thank you all for coming together to prioritize people over politics." Mrs. Trump has been highly selective as to when and how she chooses to appear in Washington. The bill-signing ceremony at the White House was her highest profile appearance yet. The president seemed thrilled to stand by her side. "It's the first time I've seen such a level of bipartisanship, and it's a beautiful thing," he chirped. "I'm not even sure you realize, honey, you know, a lot of the Democrats and Republicans don't get along so well. You've made them get along." Before the signing ceremony, he had been on the phone with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, attempting to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. Mr. Trump started to recount how the call had gone. And then he got the Rose Garden crowd cracking up when he said: "Putin just said, 'They respect your wife a lot.' I said, 'What about me?' No, they like Melania better." He added: "I'm OK with it." They sat beside each other, he scrawled his signature across the bill, and then, just for the hell of it, he handed the pen to his wife. "You want to sign it anyway?" he said. "Come on, sign it anyway. She deserves to sign it." And so she did.

Trump signs Take It Down Act to combat fake images and online exploitation

President signs bill with first lady Melania Trump to criminalize sharing intimate images without consent President Donald Trump on Monday signed into law the Take It Down Act, a measure that imposes penalties for online sexual exploitation that first lady Melania Trump helped usher through Congress, and he had her sign it, too, despite what sounded like a mild objection on her part. "C'mon, sign it anyway," the president told his wife. "She deserves to sign it." After she added her signature, the president showed the document bearing both of their names to the audience at the signing ceremony in the White House Rose Garden. Melania Trump's signature is merely symbolic because first ladies are not elected and have no formal role in the signing of legislation. In March, Melania Trump used her first public appearance since resuming the role of first lady to travel to Capitol Hill to lobby House members to pass the bill following its approval by the Senate. At a signing ceremony, she called the new law a "national victory" that will help protect children from online exploitation, including through the use of artificial intelligence to make fake images. "AI and social media are the digital candy for the next generation, sweet addictive and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children," she said. "But unlike sugar, these new technologies can be weaponized, shape beliefs and, sadly, affect emotions and even be deadly." The president said the proliferation of images made using AI means that "countless women have been harassed with deepfakes and other explicit images distributed against their will". He said what's happening is "just so horribly wrong". "Today, we're making it totally illegal," Trump said. The bill makes it a federal crime to "knowingly publish" or threaten to publish intimate images without a person's consent, including AI-created "deepfakes". Websites and social media companies will be required to remove such material within 48 hours after a victim requests it. The platforms must also take steps to delete duplicate content. Many states have already banned the dissemination of sexually explicit deepfakes or "revenge porn", but the Take It Down Act is a rare example of federal regulators imposing on internet companies. The bill, sponsored by Senator Ted Cruz and Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, both Republicans, received overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress, passing the House in April by a 409-2 vote and clearing the Senate by unanimous consent. But the measure isn't without critics. Free speech advocates and digital rights groups say the bill is too broad and could lead to censorship of legitimate images, including legal pornography and LGBTQ content. Others say it could allow the government to monitor private communications and undermine due process. The first lady appeared at a Capitol Hill roundtable with lawmakers and young women who had explicit images of them put online, saying it was "heartbreaking" to see what teenagers and especially girls go through after this happens to them. She also included a victim among her guests for the president's address to a joint session of Congress the day after that meeting. After the House passed the bill, Melania Trump said the bipartisan vote was a "powerful statement that we stand united in protecting the dignity, privacy and safety of our children". Her advocacy for the bill is a continuation of the Be Best campaign she started in the president's first term, focusing on children's well-being, social media use and opioid abuse. In his speech to Congress in March, the president said he looked forward to signing the bill. "And I'm going to use that bill for myself, too, if you don't mind," he said, adding, that there's nobody who "gets treated worse than I do online. Nobody."

It's now a federal crime to publish AI deepfake porn

Trump signed the Take It Down Act, while campaigning against state power to regulate AI. Credit: Chip Somodevilla / Staff / Getty Images News via Getty Images The Take It Down Act, a controversial bipartisan bill recently hailed by First Lady Melania Trump as a tool to build a safer internet, is officially law, as President Donald Trump took to the White House Rose Garden today to put ink to legislative paper. It's the first high-profile tech legislation to pass under the new administration. "With the rise of AI image generation, countless women have been harassed with deepfakes and other explicit images distributed against their will. This is wrong, so horribly wrong, and it's a very abusive situation," said Trump at the time of signing. "This will be the first ever federal law to combat the distribution of explicit, imaginary, posted without subject's consent... We've all heard about deepfakes. I have them all the time, but nobody does anything. I ask Pam [Bondi], 'Can you help me Pam?' She says, 'No I'm too busy doing other things. Don't worry you'll survive.' But a lot of people don't survive, that's true and so horrible... Today, we're making it totally illegal." The bill, which criminalizes publishing or threatening to publish nonconsensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated deepfakes and pornography, was passed by the House of Representatives in April, following a successful run through the Senate. It requires social media platforms to remove offending content within 48 hours and prevent users from posting duplicates, and allows the Federal Trade Commission to sue non-compliant platforms. The law also adds protections for victims and clarifies prosecution guidelines for police, according to CNN. Victims of nonconsensual intimate imagery previously had little legal recourse against perpetrators, and lawmakers have been slow to agree on how to address revenge porn broadly, even as it is increasingly exacerbated by advancing tech like AI -- previous attempts to create criminal or civil pathways for victims, like the DEFIANCE Act, have failed. Digital rights organizations have been extremely critical of the new legislation, warning lawmakers that the act's broad takedown provisions and tight timeline may lead online service providers to more actively monitor users' speech and fuel censorship of legal content.

President Trump Signs Law That Bans Non-consensual, AI-Generated Images

President Donald Trump signed a bill that bans the sharing of non-consensual, explicit images -- whether real or AI-generated. The legislation also requires tech platforms to remove such pictures within 48 hours of being notified about them. The Take It Down Act, introduced by Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the President during a signing ceremony at the White House on Monday. Trump signed the bipartisan Take It Down Act into law in an effort to combat non-consensual, intimate imagery, including deepfakes and revenge porn. The legislation bans the online publication of non-consensual, sexually explicit images and videos that are both authentic and AI-generated. It makes publishing such content illegal, subjecting violators to mandatory restitution and criminal penalties such as prison, fines, or both. The bill also establishes criminal penalties for people who threaten to publish the intimate visual depictions, some of which are created using artificial intelligence. The bill would require websites, through enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission, to remove such offending images within 48 hours of receiving a victim's request and to make efforts to remove any copies of the content. The Take It Down Act received overwhelming support in Congress, passing with near-unanimous approval and facing opposition from only two members of the House -- marking a rare instance of bipartisan agreement. According to CNN, it stands among the first pieces of U.S. federal laws aimed at tackling the risks posed by AI-generated content amid the technology's rapid evolution and criminalizing the sharing of offending images. Although many states already have laws against non-consensual intimate imagery and sexually explicit deepfakes, the severity of charges and penalties differs significantly. Victims often face major hurdles when trying to get such content removed from the internet, making it more likely that the material continues to circulate and causes ongoing trauma. "With the rise of AI image generation, countless women have been harassed with deepfakes and other explicit images distributed against their will. This is wrong, and it's just so horribly wrong," Trump says during the signing ceremony. "It's a very abusive situation, like in some cases, people have never seen before. And today we're making it totally illegal."

Trump Signs Bipartisan Act Targeting Deepfake Abuse and Online Exploitation - Decrypt

Deepfake and revenge porn victims will now be federally protected under U.S. law. President Donald Trump on Monday signed into law the bipartisan Take It Down Act, a sweeping measure that criminalizes the non-consensual online publication of intimate images, both authentic or AI-generated, and compels major tech platforms to remove such content within 48 hours of notification. The law goes into effect immediately. The signing ceremony also marked a rare symbolic moment as First Lady Melania Trump joined the president to add her signature. The law is a capstone of her recent public advocacy campaign focused on online exploitation and children's safety in the digital age. "This legislation is a powerful step forward in our efforts to ensure that every American, especially our young people, can feel better protected from their image or identity being abused through non-consensual intimate imagery or NCII," Melania Trump said. "AI and social media are the digital candy of the next generation -- sweet, addictive, and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children," she added. "But unlike sugar, these new technologies can be weaponized, shape beliefs, and sadly, affect emotions and even be deadly." The legislation comes amid a surge in reports of deepfake pornography and non-consensual image abuse. High-profile figures like Taylor Swift and Jamie Lee Curtis, as well as underage children, have seen AI-generated images of themselves shared online without consent, some of which have been explicit. The Take It Down Act is one of the first major federal responses to the threat posed by generative AI. The law makes it a federal crime to publish or threaten to publish non-consensual intimate images of adults or minors, including deepfakes, with the intent to harm or harass. Violators face criminal penalties, including prison and fines. For adult subjects, the bill prohibits the online publication of intimate visual depictions when it is intended to cause or does cause harm to the subject. That includes where the depiction was published without the subject's consent or, in the case of an authentic depiction, was created or obtained under circumstances where the adult had a reasonable expectation of privacy. For minors, the bill covers when publication is intended to abuse or harass the minor or to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of a person. Public websites, online services, or apps that host user-generated content must establish a clear takedown process and eliminate duplicates of flagged content. The bill received near-unanimous support in Congress, passing the House 409-2 and the Senate by unanimous consent. Melania Trump had lobbied lawmakers directly to support the bill, hosting victims at a Capitol Hill roundtable and bringing Elliston Berry as her guest to the president's address to Congress in March.

Trump to sign bill cracking down on deepfake pornography

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump will sign legislation Monday that will ban the nonconsensual online publication of sexually explicit images and videos that are both authentic and computer-generated. The "Take it Down Act" would make publishing this content illegal and would subject violators to mandatory restitution and criminal penalties such as prison, a fine or both. The bill would also subject people to criminal penalties who make threats to publish these intimate visual depictions, some of which are created using artificial intelligence. The measure would require websites, through enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission, to remove this imagery after receiving a request from a victim within 48 hours and have to make efforts to take down copies as well. Trump is scheduled to sign the bipartisan bill in an afternoon ceremony in the White House Rose Garden. First lady Melania Trump is set to attend the event as she was "instrumental" in getting the measure through Congress, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday. "The first lady met with members in the House and the Senate survivors and their families and advocates throughout the process to get this bill across the finish line," she said at the press briefing. It will only be the sixth bill Trump has signed into law in his second term as president so far. By his 100th day in office, he had only signed five bills -- fewer than any other president in the first 100 days of an administration since at least Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s, according to an NBC News analysis of data in the congressional record. The Senate approved the measure by unanimous consent and the House overwhelmingly passed it in a 409-2 vote last month. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., sponsored the bill in the Senate while Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., introduced its companion in the House along with several other members, including House Democrats. According to the bill's sponsors, while many states have laws explicitly banning sexual deepfakes, they vary in terms of classification of crime and penalties. Trump highlighted the bill in early March, joking that it would apply to him. "I'm going to use that bill for myself because nobody gets treated worse than I do online," he said. The first lady also held an event on Capitol Hill that month touting the proposal. "It's heartbreaking to witness young teens, especially girls, grappling with the overwhelming challenges posed by malicious online content like deepfakes," she said. "This toxic environment can be severely damaging," she continued. "We must prioritize their well-being by equipping them with support and tools necessary to navigate this hostile digital landscape. Every young person deserves a safe online space to express themselves free without the looming threat of exploitation or harm."

Trump signs "Take it Down Act," revenge porn bill backed by Melania Trump

Washington -- President Trump on Monday signed a bipartisan bill into law that makes it a federal crime to post real and fake sexually explicit imagery online of people without their consent. The bill, known as the "Take It Down Act," was backed by first lady Melania Trump, who made a rare public appearance in March at the U.S. Capitol to advocate for the bill's passage in the House. The bill cleared the lower chamber last month after the Senate passed the measure in February. "This will be the first-ever federal law to combat the distribution of explicit, imagery posted without subjects' consent," Mr. Trump said during a bill signing event at the White House. "We will not tolerate online sexual exploitation." The law requires social media companies and other websites to remove images and videos, including deepfakes generated by artificial intelligence, within 48 hours after a victim's request. Those convicted of intentionally distributing explicit images without a subject's consent face prison time. "It's heartbreaking to witness young teens, especially girls, grappling with the overwhelming challenges posed by malicious online content like deep fakes," the first lady said in March. "This toxic environment can be severely damaging." The first lady attended Monday's bill signing, calling the law a "national victory that will help parents and families protect children from online exploitation." She thanked the bipartisan group of lawmakers who worked on the legislation "for coming together to prioritize people over politics." "Artificial intelligence and social media are the digital candy for the next generation -- sweet, addictive and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children," she said, adding that "these new technologies can be weaponized, shape beliefs and, sadly, affect emotions and even be deadly." After Mr. Trump signed the bill into law, he handed it to his wife to also sign. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, as well as TikTok and Snapchat have all said they support the legislation. Digital rights groups, however, have warned that the legislation as written could lead to the suppression of lawful speech, including legitimate pornography, and does not contain protections against bad-faith takedown requests.

Trump signs bill outlawing 'revenge porn'

Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump signed a bill on Monday making it a federal crime to post "revenge porn" -- whether it is real or generated by artificial intelligence. The "Take It Down Act," passed with overwhelming bipartisan congressional support, criminalizes non-consensual publication of intimate images, while also mandating their removal from online platforms. "With the rise of AI image generation, countless women have been harassed with deepfakes and other explicit images distributed against their will," Trump said at a signing ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House. "And today we're making it totally illegal," the president said. "Anyone who intentionally distributes explicit images without the subject's consent will face up to three years in prison." First Lady Melania Trump endorsed the bill in early March and attended the signing ceremony in a rare public White House appearance. The First Lady has largely been an elusive figure at the White House since her husband took the oath of office on January 20, spending only limited time in Washington. In remarks at the signing ceremony, she described the bill as a "national victory that will help parents and families protect children from online exploitation." "This legislation is a powerful step forward in our efforts to ensure that every American, especially young people, can feel better protected from their image or identity being abused," she said. Deepfakes often rely on artificial intelligence and other tools to create realistic-looking fake videos. They can be used to create falsified pornographic images of real women, which are then published without their consent and proliferate. Some US states, including California and Florida, have laws criminalizing the publication of sexually explicit deepfakes, but critics have voiced concerns the "Take It Down Act" grants the authorities increased censorship power. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit focused on free expression, has said the bill gives "the powerful a dangerous new route to manipulate platforms into removing lawful speech that they simply don't like." The bill would require social media platforms and websites to have procedures in place to swiftly remove non-consensual intimate imagery upon notification from a victim. Harassment, bullying, blackmail An online boom in non-consensual deepfakes is currently outpacing efforts to regulate the technology around the world due to a proliferation of AI tools, including photo apps digitally undressing women. While high-profile politicians and celebrities, including singer Taylor Swift, have been victims of deepfake porn, experts say women not in the public eye are equally vulnerable. A wave of AI porn scandals have been reported at schools across US states with hundreds of teenagers targeted by their own classmates. Such non-consensual imagery can lead to harassment, bullying or blackmail, sometimes causing devastating mental health consequences, experts warn. Renee Cummings, an AI and data ethicist and criminologist at the University of Virginia, said the bill is a "significant step" in addressing the exploitation of AI-generated deepfakes and non-consensual imagery. "Its effectiveness will depend on swift and sure enforcement, severe punishment for perpetrators and real-time adaptability to emerging digital threats," Cummings told AFP.

New Jersey teen victimized by AI porn attends "Take it Down Act" signing at White House

Tim McNicholas is a reporter for CBS News New York. He joined the team in September 2022 after working in Chicago, Indianapolis, Toledo and Hastings, Nebraska. President Trump has signed the "Take it Down Act", which bans people from publishing nonconsensual sexual images, like artificial intelligence deepfakes and revenge porn. The White House invited Francesca Mani, a New Jersey high student who was victimized by deepfake porn, to Monday's bill signing ceremony after she spent years advocating for the bill. In 2023, Mani's family told CBS News New York that boys at Westfield High School used an AI app to create nude images using the faces of real girls, including Francesca. Her family has been fighting for reforms ever since. Mr. Trump's signature means people who distribute sexual images of someone without their consent can now face up to three years in prison or fines from the federal government. It includes AI-generated deepfakes, which are forged images created with a real person's face. "I mean, it feels absolutely exhilarating. I mean, I have been supporting this law and advocating for it for almost two years now, and I am just so happy. I just want to say thank you to the first lady and President Trump, and all the politicians who have acted in a decisive way, in a bipartisan way," Mani said in an interview from the White House Rose Garden. The president acknowledge Mani's struggle during the signing ceremony. "Also with us are several other brave Americans whose lives were rocked by online harassment, including Francesca Mani," the president said. Mani joined first lady Melania Trump at a press conference in March where they both called for stronger protections from AI-generated deepfake pornography. "We affirm that the wellbeing of our children is central to our future of our families in America," the first lady said Monday. Under the "Take it Down Act," criminal penalties for sharing nonconsensual sexually explicit images are immediately in effect. A part of the law that requires social media companies to remove the images within 48 hours of a victim's request goes into effect next year. Critics said the bill could be weaponized to remove legitimate images protected by free speech. Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie said it was ripe for abuse with unintended consequences, but it passed the House of Representatives 409-2. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law laying out criminal penalties for producing and sharing non-consensual deepfake images in April.

Trump signs bill criminalising deepfake revenge porn backed by first lady

US President Donald Trump on Monday signed the Take It Down Act, imposing penalties for online sexual exploitation. First lady Melania Trump, who championed the bill, also signed it despite apparent reluctance. The measure passed Congress with bipartisan support. President Donald Trump on Monday signed into law the Take It Down Act, a measure that imposes penalties for online sexual exploitation that first lady Melania Trump helped usher through Congress, and he had her sign it, too, despite what sounded like a mild objection on her part. "C'mon, sign it anyway," the president told his wife. "She deserves to sign it," he said. After she added her signature, the president held up the document to show both of their names to the audience at the ceremony in the White House Rose Garden. Melania Trump's signature is merely symbolic since first ladies are not elected and they play no role in the enactment of legislation. In March, Melania Trump used her first public appearance since resuming the role of first lady to travel to Capitol Hill to lobby House members to pass the bill following its approval by the Senate. At a signing ceremony, she called the new law a "national victory" that will help protect children from online exploitation, including through the use of artificial intelligence to make fake images. "AI and social media are the digital candy for the next generation, sweet addictive and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children," she said. "But unlike sugar, these new technologies can be weaponized, shape beliefs and, sadly, affect emotions and even be deadly." The president said the proliferation of images made using AI means that "countless women have been harassed with deepfakes and other explicit images distributed against their will." He said what's happening is "just so horribly wrong." "Today, we're making it totally illegal," Trump said. The bill makes it a federal crime to "knowingly publish" or threaten to publish intimate images without a person's consent, including AI-created "deepfakes." Websites and social media companies will be required to remove such material within 48 hours after a victim requests it. The platforms must also take steps to delete duplicate content. Many states have already banned the dissemination of sexually explicit deepfakes or revenge porn, but the Take It Down Act is a rare example of federal regulators imposing on internet companies. The bill, introduced by Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., received overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress, passing the House in April by a 409-2 vote and clearing the Senate by unanimous consent. But the measure isn't without critics. Free speech advocates and digital rights groups say the bill is too broad and could lead to censorship of legitimate images, including legal pornography and LGBTQ content. Others say it could allow the government to monitor private communications and undermine due process. The first lady appeared at a Capitol Hill roundtable with lawmakers and young women who had explicit images of them put online, saying it was "heartbreaking" to see what teenagers and especially girls go through after this happens to them. She also included a victim among her guests for the president's address to a joint session of Congress the day after that meeting. After the House passed the bill, Melania Trump said the bipartisan vote was a "powerful statement that we stand united in protecting the dignity, privacy and safety of our children." Her advocacy for the bill represents a continuation of the Be Best campaign she started in the president's first term, focusing on children's well-being, social media use and opioid abuse. In his speech to Congress in March, the president said he looked forward to signing the bill. "And I'm going to use that bill for myself, too, if you don't mind," he said, adding, that there's nobody who "gets treated worse than I do online. Nobody."

Trump signs a bipartisan bill targeting revenge porn and AI-generated sexual images

President Donald Trump signed the TAKE IT DOWN Act into law on Monday, strengthening federal protections for victims of revenge porn and AI-generated sexual images. The bill, introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, makes it illegal to "knowingly publish" or threaten to share nonconsensual intimate imagery -- whether real or generated by artificial intelligence -- without the person's consent. It also requires tech platforms to remove such images within 48 hours of being notified and to take steps to eliminate duplicate content. Previously, federal law only banned the creation or distribution of realistic, AI-generated explicit images of children, while protections for adults varied by state. As a result, laws differed in how the crime was classified and penalized, leading to inconsistent criminal prosecutions. Some victims also struggled to have images taken down from websites. This legislation, which garnered overwhelming bipartisan support, marks the first federal law aimed at protecting adult victims. Now, people who post such content and are convicted could face penalties and prison time. The Federal Trade Commission could also sue tech companies for not complying with the law, Axios reports.

Trump signs a bill to make posting 'revenge porn' a federal crime. He had the first lady sign, too

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump on Monday signed into law the Take It Down Act, a measure that imposes penalties for online sexual exploitation that first lady Melania Trump helped usher through Congress, and he had her sign it, too, despite what sounded like a mild objection on her part. "C'mon, sign it anyway," the president told his wife. "She deserves to sign it," he said. After she added her signature, the president showed the document bearing both of their names to the audience at the signing ceremony in the White House Rose Garden. Melania Trump's signature is merely symbolic because first ladies are not elected and have no formal role in the signing of legislation. In March, Melania Trump used her first public appearance since resuming the role of first lady to travel to Capitol Hill to lobby House members to pass the bill following its approval by the Senate. At a signing ceremony, she called the new law a "national victory" that will help protect children from online exploitation, including through the use of artificial intelligence to make fake images. "AI and social media are the digital candy for the next generation, sweet addictive and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children," she said. "But unlike sugar, these new technologies can be weaponized, shape beliefs and, sadly, affect emotions and even be deadly." The president said the proliferation of images made using AI means that "countless women have been harassed with deepfakes and other explicit images distributed against their will." He said what's happening is "just so horribly wrong." "Today, we're making it totally illegal," Trump said. The bill makes it a federal crime to "knowingly publish" or threaten to publish intimate images without a person's consent, including AI-created "deepfakes." Websites and social media companies will be required to remove such material within 48 hours after a victim requests it. The platforms must also take steps to delete duplicate content. Many states have already banned the dissemination of sexually explicit deepfakes or revenge porn, but the Take It Down Act is a rare example of federal regulators imposing on internet companies. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., received overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress, passing the House in April by a 409-2 vote and clearing the Senate by unanimous consent. But the measure isn't without critics. Free speech advocates and digital rights groups say the bill is too broad and could lead to censorship of legitimate images, including legal pornography and LGBTQ content. Others say it could allow the government to monitor private communications and undermine due process. The first lady appeared at a Capitol Hill roundtable with lawmakers and young women who had explicit images of them put online, saying it was "heartbreaking" to see what teenagers and especially girls go through after this happens to them. She also included a victim among her guests for the president's address to a joint session of Congress the day after that meeting. After the House passed the bill, Melania Trump said the bipartisan vote was a "powerful statement that we stand united in protecting the dignity, privacy and safety of our children." Her advocacy for the bill is a continuation of the Be Best campaign she started in the president's first term, focusing on children's well-being, social media use and opioid abuse. In his speech to Congress in March, the president said he looked forward to signing the bill. "And I'm going to use that bill for myself, too, if you don't mind," he said, adding, that there's nobody who "gets treated worse than I do online. Nobody."

Trump signs bill criminalizing nonsensenual AI deepfake porn

Donald Trump has signed a bill backed by first lady Melania Trump that makes it a federal crime to publish nonconsensual AI-generated explicit images. US President Donald Trump has signed a bill criminalizing nonconsensual artificial intelligence-generated deepfake porn, which also requires websites to take down any illicit images within 48 hours. Trump signed the bill into law on May 19, known as the TAKE IT DOWN Act, an acronym for Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks. The bill, backed by first lady Melania Trump, makes it a federal crime to publish, or threaten to publish, nonconsensual intimate images, including deepfakes, of adults or minors with the intent to harm or harass them. Penalties range from fines to prison. Websites, online services, or apps must remove illegal content within 48 hours and establish a takedown process. Trump said in remarks given at the White House Rose Garden and posted to the social media platform Truth Social that the bill also covers "forgeries generated by an artificial intelligence," commonly referred to as deepfakes. Melania Trump had directly lobbied lawmakers to support the bill, and said in a statement that the law is a "national victory." "Artificial Intelligence and social media are the digital candy of the next generation -- sweet, addictive, and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children," she said. "But unlike sugar, these new technologies can be weaponized, shape beliefs, and sadly, affect emotions and even be deadly," she added. Senator Ted Cruz and Amy Klobuchar introduced the bill in June 2024, and it passed both houses in April of this year. There has been a growing number of cases where deepfakes are used for harmful purposes. One of the more high-profile instances saw deepfake-generated illicit images of pop star Taylor Swift rapidly spread through X in January 2024. X temporarily banned searches using Taylor Swift's name in response, while lawmakers pushed for legislation criminalizing the production of deepfake images. Related: AI scammers are now impersonating US government bigwigs, says FBI Other countries, such as the UK, have already made sharing deepfake pornography illegal as part of the country's Online Safety Act in 2023. A 2023 report from security startup Security Hero revealed that the majority of deepfakes posted online are pornographic, and 99% of individuals targeted by such content are women.

Trump signs bill cracking down on deepfake revenge porn

President Trump signed a bill on Monday criminalizing the publication of nonconsensual sexually explicit "deepfake" images and videos online, marking the first major technology safety bill signed during his second term. The president touted the bill as the "first ever federal law to combat the distribution of explicit imagery posted without subjects' consent." "With the rise of AI image generation, countless women have been harassed with deepfakes and other explicit images distributed against their will," Trump said. "It's just so horribly wrong, and it's a very abusive situation, like in some cases, people have never seen before. And today, we're making it totally illegal." The Take It Down Act makes it a crime for a person to knowingly publish computer-generated pornographic images and videos that depict real individuals. It further requires websites to take down the content within 48 hours of hearing from the victim and are expected to make "reasonable efforts" to remove image copies. The Federal Trade Commission is poised with enforcing this speech. First lady Melania Trump, a vocal supporter of the bill, spoke ahead of Trump's signing in the Rose Garden. "This legislation is a powerful step forward in our efforts to ensure that every American, especially young people, can feel better protected from their image or identity being abused," the first lady said. "Thank you all for coming together to prioritize people over politics," she added, prompting applause from the audience. She attended a roundtable on the measure at the Capitol in March and her support comes as part of her broader youth initiative focused on combatting issues related to children's well-being. A number of lawmakers were present for the signing including Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), the bill's Republican sponsors in the Senate and House, respectively. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Rep. Madeline Dean (D-Pa.) were the Democratic sponsors in their respective chambers. Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), along with House Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), Reps. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) and Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) were also spotted at the signing. Social media platform X CEO Linda Yaccarino was also present and mentioned by the president in his remarks. It comes just weeks after the bill passed the House in an overwhelming 409-2 vote, with 22 members not voting. Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) were the sole "no" votes. The measure was sponsored by Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) in the upper chamber, while Reps. Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) and Madeline Dean (D-Pa.) were the co-leads on the House version. The bill marks the first youth online safety bill to pass Congress this session, handing some lawmakers a win after failing to pass most related legislation last year. The Take It Down Act had the backing of tech safety groups and families hoping to hold technology companies accountable for social media harms, specifically on young children. Other technology groups have expressed free speech concerns that the bill will unintentionally lead to the removal of content that does not fall under the law. Supporters of the bill reject this argument, stating it conforms it First Amendment requirements by requiring the deepfake meet a "reasonable person" test for appearing indistinguishable from an authentic image.

Donald Trump signs 'revenge porn' ban with Melania Trump, an advocate, at his side

Melania Trump spoke out in favor of legislation that would criminalize the publication of nonconsensual deepfake sexual images. Two months after First lady Melania Trump spoke up in support of banning the publication of sexually explicit images and videos without a person's consent, President Donald Trump signed legislation making it the law of the land on May 19. The president walked into the White House's Rose Garden with his wife on a warm spring afternoon and signed the bipartisan "Take it Down Act," outlawing and penalizing publication of nonconsensual real and computer-generated images, known as "deep fakes" that are often used as revenge pornography. He then turned to the first lady, seated next to him at the outdoor desk set up to sign the legislation, asking her if she wanted to sign her name on the document. She promptly autographed the leather-bound piece of paper. Addressing the audience made up of victims of revenge porn, members of Congress and Cabinet secretaries, the first lady called the new law a "national victory." "Artificial intelligence and social media are the digital candy for the next generation, sweet, addictive, and engineered to have an impact on the connectivity development of our children," she said. "But unlike sugar, these new technologies can be weaponized to shape beliefs and, sadly, affect emotions and even be deadly." In particular, she thanked Elliston Berry for speaking up and advocating on behalf of survivors after being targeted with revenge porn. Berry was 14 when a classmate used an AI app to attach a nude body to an Instagram photo of her face, before circulating it on social media. The new law will require technology platforms to remove reported "nonconsensual, sexually exploitative images" within 48 hours of receiving a valid request. Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, introduced the legislation in August. Berry has said that when she reported the incident to her school in north Texas, the authorities responded saying it was out of their control. It was only after Cruz's Senate office heard her story and reached out to Snapchat that her photos were removed. "It's a very abusive situation," said the president. "And today we're making it totally illegal." Remarking on the wide support in Congress for the bill, with 99 senators and 408 members of the House of Representatives who voted in favor of the bill, the president joked, "I wish we could get that vote from other things." During her husband's first term, Melania Trump advocated against cyberbullying with her "Be Best" campaign. Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal

The Take It Down Act: Explaining law signed by Trump aimed at revenge porn, deepfakes

First lady Melania Trump championed the bill as part of her renewed "Be Best" initiative. It passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by her husband during a signing ceremony in the White House Rose Garden on May 19. Introduced last year by Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, the Take It Down Act has received overwhelming bipartisan support. The bill passed the Senate in February and later the House with a 409-2 vote on April 28. While most states have laws protecting people from non-consensual intimate images and sexual deepfakes, the legislation varies in classification of crime and penalty. And victims have struggled to have images depicting them removed from websites, increasing the likelihood the images were continuously spread and the victims retraumatized. "The Take It Down Act will protect victims of digital exploitation, hold internet platforms accountable by requiring them to remove such imagery from their platform and provide justice for victims by allowing prosecutors to go after those who publish nonconsensual explicit images online," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. Here's what to know about the Take It Down Act and what it means. What is the Take It Down Act? The Take It Down Act criminalizes the publication of non-consensual intimate imagery, also known as NCII. That includes AI-generated images, also referred to as deepfake revenge pornography. The law requires social media platforms and similar websites to remove revenge pornography content within 48 hours of notice from a victim. The key provisions in the Take It Down Act include: Why was the Take It Down Act introduced? The Take It Down Act was introduced by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota in 2024. It received overwhelming support from both sides of the aisle after passing the House by a 409-2 vote on April 28, after having passed the Senate in February. Cruz said the bill was inspired by Elliston Berry and her mother after the popular social media platform Snapchat refused to remove an AI-generated "deepfake" of the then 14-year-old for almost a year. He thanked the first lady and the bipartisan support "for locking arms in this critical mission to protect Americans from online exploitation." Klobuchar said in a statement after the bill's passage that "we must provide victims of online abuse with the legal protections they need when intimate images are shared without their consent, especially now that deepfakes are creating horrifying new opportunities for abuse." "These images can ruin lives and reputations," she continued. "But now that our bipartisan legislation is becoming law, victims will be able to have this material removed from social media platforms and law enforcement can hold perpetrators accountable." What are deepfakes? Deepfakes are photos, videos, or audio altered or created by AI to appear real, often without the subject of the media's consent. Many creator of deepfakes digitally place people into compromising situations, showing them appearing inappropriately or putting them in places that could spark controversy or embarrassment. The images have become a major cause for concern with the explosion of AI technology. What is Melania Trump's involvement? Melania Trump heavily lobbied for the Take It Down Act, arguing that it protects individual privacy through strict ethical standards and robust security measures. On March 3, the first lady called the consequences of non-consensual sexually explicit images "toxic" in her first public comments since her husband returned to the White House. "It's heartbreaking to witness young teens, especially girls, grappling with the overwhelming challenges posed by malicious online content, like deepfakes," Melania Trump said on Capitol Hill during a rare public appearance. During the first Trump administration, Melanie Trump advocated against cyberbullying through her "Be Best" campaign, which emphasized on the "social, emotional, and physical health" of children through factors like social media and opioid abuse.

President Trump signs Take It Down Act, addressing nonconsensual deepfakes. What is it?

President Trump signed the Take It Down Act, a bipartisan law targeting non-consensual intimate imagery and deepfakes. Introduced by Senators Cruz and Klobuchar, it mandates swift removal of such content by websites within 48 hours. While supported by many, including Melania Trump and Meta, critics raise concerns about potential censorship and First Amendment infringements due to the law's broad language.President Donald Trump on Monday signed the Take It Down Act, bipartisan legislation that enacts stricter penalties for the distribution of non-consensual intimate imagery, sometimes called "revenge porn," as fell as deepfakes created by artificial intelligence. The measure, which goes into effect immediately, was introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, and later gained the support of First Lady Melania Trump. Critics of the measure, which addresses both real and artificial intelligence-generated imagery, say the language is too broad and could lead to censorship and First Amendment issues. The law makes it illegal to "knowingly publish" or threaten to publish intimate images without a person's consent, including AI-created "deepfakes." It also requires websites and social media companies to remove such material within 48 hours of notice from a victim. The platforms must also take steps to delete duplicate content. Many states have already banned the dissemination of sexually explicit deepfakes or revenge porn, but the Take It Down Act is a rare example of federal regulators imposing on internet companies. The Take It Down Act has garnered strong bipartisan support and has been championed by Melania Trump, who lobbied on Capitol Hill in March saying it was "heartbreaking" to see what teenagers, especially girls, go through after they are victimized by people who spread such content. Cruz said the measure was inspired by Elliston Berry and her mother, who visited his office after Snapchat refused for nearly a year to remove an AI-generated "deepfake" of the then 14-year-old. Meta, which owns and operates Facebook and Instagram, supports the legislation. "Having an intimate image - real or AI-generated - shared without consent can be devastating and Meta developed and backs many efforts to help prevent it," Meta spokesman Andy Stone said in March. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a tech industry-supported think tank, said in a statement following the bill's passage last month that it "is an important step forward that will help people pursue justice when they are victims of non-consensual intimate imagery, including deepfake images generated using AI." "We must provide victims of online abuse with the legal protections they need when intimate images are shared without their consent, especially now that deepfakes are creating horrifying new opportunities for abuse," Klobuchar said in a statement. "These images can ruin lives and reputations, but now that our bipartisan legislation is becoming law, victims will be able to have this material removed from social media platforms and law enforcement can hold perpetrators accountable." Klobuchar called the law's passage a "a major victory for victims of online abuse" and said it gives people "legal protections and tools for when their intimate images, including deepfakes, are shared without their consent, and enabling law enforcement to hold perpetrators accountable." "This is also a landmark move towards establishing common-sense rules of the road around social media and AI," she added. Cruz said "predators who weaponize new technology to post this exploitative filth will now rightfully face criminal consequences, and Big Tech will no longer be allowed to turn a blind eye to the spread of this vile material." Free speech advocates and digital rights groups say the bill is too broad and could lead to the censorship of legitimate images including legal pornography and LGBTQ content, as well as government critics. "While the bill is meant to address a serious problem, good intentions alone are not enough to make good policy," said the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights advocacy group. "Lawmakers should be strengthening and enforcing existing legal protections for victims, rather than inventing new takedown regimes that are ripe for abuse." The takedown provision in the bill "applies to a much broader category of content - potentially any images involving intimate or sexual content" than the narrower definitions of non-consensual intimate imagery found elsewhere in the text, EFF said. "The takedown provision also lacks critical safeguards against frivolous or bad-faith takedown requests. Services will rely on automated filters, which are infamously blunt tools," EFF said. "They frequently flag legal content, from fair-use commentary to news reporting. The law's tight time frame requires that apps and websites remove speech within 48 hours, rarely enough time to verify whether the speech is actually illegal." As a result, the group said online companies, especially smaller ones that lack the resources to wade through a lot of content, "will likely choose to avoid the onerous legal risk by simply depublishing the speech rather than even attempting to verify it." The measure, EFF said, also pressures platforms to "actively monitor speech, including speech that is presently encrypted" to address liability threats. The Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, a nonprofit that helps victims of online crimes and abuse, said it has "serious reservations" about the bill. It called its takedown provision unconstitutionally vague, unconstitutionally overbroad, and lacking adequate safeguards against misuse." For instance, the group said, platforms could be obligated to remove a journalist's photographs of a topless protest on a public street, photos of a subway flasher distributed by law enforcement to locate the perpetrator, commercially produced sexually explicit content or sexually explicit material that is consensual but falsely reported as being nonconsensual.

ETtech Explainer: Wife by his side, Trump makes it a crime to share explicit images with Take It Down Act

US president Donald Trump on Monday signed the Take It Down Act into law during a ceremony at the White House Rose Garden, joined by First Lady Melania Trump. The law makes it a federal crime to share intimate or explicit images of a person without their consent, whether real or created using artificial intelligence. "With the rise of AI image generation, countless women have been harassed with deepfakes and other explicit images distributed against their will," Trump said while signing the bill, according to AFP. "And today we're making it illegal... Anyone who intentionally distributes explicit images without the subject's consent will face up to three years in prison." First lady's campaign for online safety After signing the bill, Trump handed it to Melania Trump for a symbolic signature, recognising her role in advocating for the legislation. Calling the law a "national victory", the First Lady said it would help parents and families protect children from online exploitation. "It's heartbreaking to witness young teens, especially girls, grappling with the overwhelming challenges posed by malicious online content like deepfakes. This toxic environment can be severely damaging," she said during the bill's introduction in March. The first lady also warned about the influence of digital tools on children, calling artificial intelligence and social media "digital candy for the next generation -- sweet, addictive and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children". What the law covers The Take It Down Act makes it illegal to knowingly share intimate images online without consent, including content generated with AI tools. The law also states that consent to create such images does not imply permission to share them. Websites and social media platforms must take down the content and its duplicates within 48 hours of a victim's request. The bill was introduced in 2024 by Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, and Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota. It passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in April, with a 409-2 vote in the House. Tech backing Tech firms such as Meta, TikTok and Snapchat have publicly supported the law. However, some digital rights groups have raised concerns about the potential for over-removal of legal content and misuse through false takedown claims. The legislation comes in response to a wave of high-profile cases involving AI-generated explicit images of celebrities and teenagers. It marks the first federal law aimed at protecting adults from such abuse and at holding platforms accountable for harmful content.

Melania Trump signs bill outlawing revenge, AI-generated porn...

WASHINGTON -- President Trump let his wife Melania co-sign legislation Monday to outlaw artificial intelligence-generated porn with real people's faces -- moments after claiming that Russian president Vladimir Putin had gushed about the first lady during a high-stakes phone call about the Ukraine war . "Putin just said, they [Russians] respect your wife a lot," Trump before signing the Take It Down Act during a Rose Garden ceremony. "I said, 'What about me?' They like Melania better." The Take It Down Act, which spurred the first lady to make a rare trip to Capitol Hill to lobby lawmakers earlier this year, criminalizes the distribution of non-consensual intimate imagery -- including "revenge porn" that features real images and artificial intelligence-generated photos and videos. After Trump, 78, signed the legislation, he passed the bill and a pen to his wife and asked for her signature in a reflection of her advocacy. "She deserves to sign it," the president said, adding that "America is blessed to have such a dedicated and compassionate first lady." Melania Trump is believed to be the first first lady to sign a piece of legislation alongside a sitting president. "This legislation is a powerful step forward in our efforts to ensure that every American, especially young people, can feel better protected from their image or identity being abused," said Melania Trump, 55. "Artificial intelligence and social media are the digital candy for the next generation -- sweet, addictive and engineered to have an impact on the connectivity development of our children," she added. "But unlike sugar, these new technologies can be weaponized, shape beliefs and sadly, affect emotions." "We've all heard about deep fakes. I have them all the time, but nobody does anything," said the president during his remarks. "I ask [Attorney General] Pam [Bondi], 'Can you help me, Pam?' She says, 'No, I'm too busy, too busy doing other things, don't worry, you'll survive.' But a lot of people don't survive." Ahead of Monday's bill signing, 49 states had laws barring "revenge porn" on the books, with South Carolina the lone exception. The new federal law passed the House 409-2 and the Senate by unanimous consent, becoming one of the first pieces of legislation criminalizing aspects of AI. Perpetrators face up to two years in federal prison if the images feature an adult or three years if they depict a minor. Websites must remove content within 48 hours of notification that the images violated the law, with enforcement delegated to the Federal Trade Commission.