Broad coalition urges House passage ahead of upcoming floor vote

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– In case you missed it, victim advocacy groups, law enforcement, and tech industry leaders are urging House Republican and Democratic leadership to swiftly pass the bipartisan, bicameral TAKE IT DOWN Act, which was introduced by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). This legislation unanimously passed the Senate in February.

Earlier this week, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) also pledged to bring the legislation to the House floor for a vote after the House companion advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

In a coalition letter led by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and sent to House leadership, more than 185 organizations representing victims, law enforcement, and technology companies, as well as survivors and their families, joined in writing:

“We cannot go another day where teenage girls are victimized by adult offenders and even classmates and left feeling hopeless with no recourse; where teenage boys take their own lives because they feel there is no way out after perpetrators of sextortion threaten to release their explicit images if the boys don’t pay them; where people who spread both real and AI-generated intimate images face no repercussions; or where victims are forced to relive the trauma they suffered because social media companies refuse to remove sexually explicit intimate images.

“S.146, the TAKE IT DOWN Act, will protect victims, hold technology companies accountable, provide legal recourse, and save lives. This narrowly tailored legislation preserves free speech while addressing the lack of federal law requiring online platforms to remove non-consensual intimate images upon request.”

In a separate letter to House leadership, tech companies and organizations Meta, Amazon, X Corp. Entertainment Software Association (ESA), Google, Hive, Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), and TechNet wrote:

“Tech companies see firsthand the extraordinary benefits that artificial intelligence (AI) provides. Unfortunately, as with any technology, bad actors are tireless in their attempts to misuse and exploit it - including by using AI to create non-consensual deepfakes to harm and victimize people. Passage of this legislation will help protect countless victims from this type of abuse, it will hold bad actors accountable, and it will better equip tech companies to take action.

“Urgent action on this legislation would echo calls from both sides of the aisle. We are grateful for President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump’s vocal support for the legislation. Chairman Guthrie has followed the Senate’s lead by passing the legislation out of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Now, it is your turn to pass Senator Cruz’s bill and send it to President Trump for his signature. We look forward to the House of Representative’s swift action.”

This week, the TAKE IT DOWN Act also received a major endorsement from Paris Hilton, who called the bill “a crucial step toward ending non-consensual image sharing online.”

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