On Monday, the House of Representatives passed the Take It Down Act, a landmark measure aimed at criminalizing the publication of nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfakes, with a decisive vote of 409-2. The bill now moves to President Trump’s desk for his signature, after having cleared both chambers of Congress with overwhelming support.
The bill’s passage marks a significant step in the fight against online exploitation, particularly the use of artificial intelligence to create fake but realistic pornographic images or videos that appear to depict real individuals without their consent. With social media platforms and other online spaces becoming hotbeds for the proliferation of nonconsensual intimate content, this bill aims to provide a legal framework for holding offenders accountable and giving victims a recourse to have such content removed swiftly.
Key Provisions of the Bill
Under the provisions of the Take It Down Act, it would become a federal crime to intentionally post computer-generated, hyper-realistic pornographic content that mimics real people and is disseminated on social media or other online platforms. The law specifically targets deepfakes, which are computer-generated or manipulated videos and images that create realistic depictions of individuals performing actions or behaviors they did not actually engage in.
