Bipartisan bill targets malicious use of AI and empowers deepfake revenge porn victims

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In one of his first moves as the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) joined Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) in reintroducing the bipartisan, bicameral TAKE IT DOWN Act. The legislation would criminalize the publication of non-consensual, sexually exploitative images—including AI-generated deepfakes—and require platforms to remove images within 48 hours of notice.

The bill unanimously passed both the Commerce Committee and the full Senate during the last session of Congress. For the current 119^th Congress, U.S. Representatives Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) and Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) will introduce companion legislation as they did last year. The TAKE IT DOWN Act has received widespread support from over 100 organizations, including victim advocacy groups, law enforcement, and tech industry leaders.

Upon the reintroduction of the TAKE IT DOWN Act, Sen. Cruz said:

“There’s too many predators out there who are abusing new technologies like generative artificial intelligence to spread fake and exploitative sexual images online, particularly against young girls and teenagers. The TAKE IT DOWN Act is a common-sense solution that empowers victims of this heinous crime. As Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, it is one of my top priorities to protect Americans from this devious act and ensure Big Tech does not remain complicit.”

Sen. Klobuchar:

“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,” said Sen. Klobuchar. “This bipartisan legislation builds on my work to ensure that victims can have this material removed from social media platforms and law enforcement can hold perpetrators accountable.”

Rep. Salazar:

“The alarming rise of deepfakes is threatening to destroy innocent individuals’ and families’ lives,” said Rep. Salazar. “I am proud of the hard work Senator Cruz and I have accomplished on the new TAKE IT DOWN Act last Congress to solve this crisis and look forward to getting it over the finish line in the 119th Congress. This legislation will hold online platforms accountable for non-consensual deepfake imagery and protect victims of these horrendous crimes.”

Rep. Dean:

“As AI becomes more ubiquitous in our lives, it is essential that we safeguard survivors of explicit deepfakes and non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) that often devastate girls and women,” said Rep. Dean. “Whether their attackers used deepfake technology or a simple camera, victims deserve federal protection and the peace of mind that these images are removed from the Internet. I’m thankful to work with a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers on a commonsense bill that will better protect Americans and meaningfully regulate AI.”

The bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Curtis (R-Utah), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), and Gary Peters (D-Mich.).

Leaders from both large and small social media platforms, dating apps, and tech organizations, including Snap, Google, Microsoft, Meta, TikTok, Bumble, Match Group, Entertainment Software Association, IBM, TechNet, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Internet Works, are rallying behind the bipartisan legislation. RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, spearheaded a letter with 23 additional groups calling for the swift passage of this bill. The National Fraternal Order of Police has also sent a letter to Senate leadership endorsing the legislation. In November 2024, the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, Microsoft, and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) sent a letter to Senate and House leadership urging the passage of the TAKE IT DOWN Act.

Background:

While nearly every state has a law protecting people from non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), including 30 states with laws explicitly covering sexual deepfakes, these state laws vary in classification of crime and penalty and have uneven criminal prosecution. Further, victims struggle to have images depicting them removed from websites, increasing the likelihood the images are continuously spread and victims are retraumatized.

In 2022, Congress passed legislation creating a civil cause of action for victims to sue individuals responsible for publishing NCII. However, bringing a civil action can be incredibly impractical. It is time-consuming, expensive, and may force victims to relive trauma. Further exacerbating the problem, it is not always clear who is responsible for publishing the NCII. 

The TAKE IT DOWN Act would protect and empower victims of real and deepfake NCII while respecting speech by:

1. Criminalizing the publication of NCII in interstate commerce. The bill makes it unlawful for a person to knowingly publish NCII on social media and other online platforms. NCII is defined to include realistic, computer-generated pornographic images and videos that depict identifiable, real people. The bill also clarifies that a victim consenting to the creation of an authentic image does not mean that the victim has consented to its publication.
2. Protecting good faith efforts to assist victims. The bill permits the good faith disclosure of NCII, such as to law enforcement, in narrow cases. 
3. Requiring websites to take down NCII upon notice from the victim. Social media and other websites would be required to have in place procedures to remove NCII, pursuant to a valid request from a victim, within 48 hours. Websites must also make reasonable efforts to remove copies of the images. The FTC is charged with enforcement of this section. 
4. Protecting lawful speech. The bill is narrowly tailored to criminalize knowingly publishing NCII without chilling lawful speech. The bill conforms to current First Amendment jurisprudence by requiring that computer-generated NCII meet a “reasonable person” test for appearing indistinguishable from an authentic image.

To read the bill text, click HERE.(119^th text)

###