WASHINGTON – Legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), the Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks (TAKE IT DOWN) Act, passed the Senate unanimously and now moves to the House for consideration. The TAKE IT DOWN Act, would criminalize the publication of non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), including AI-generated NCII (commonly referred to as “deepfake revenge pornography”), and require social media and similar websites to have in place procedures to remove such content within 48 hours of notice from a victim.
“The TAKE IT DOWN Act is a crucial step toward protecting victims of intimate image abuse, especially minors, in today’s digital world,” said Dr. Cassidy. “I’m pleased to see we are closer to making this a reality.”
“Over the past several months, courageous victims of AI-deepfake ‘revenge porn’ have shared their stories to raise awareness and inform lawmakers’ efforts to stop this despicable behavior,” said Senator Cruz. “Passage of our bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act will give innocent victims — many of whom are teenage girls — the opportunity to seek justice against deviants who publish these abusive images. It will also hold Big Tech accountable by making sure websites remove these disgusting fake videos and pictures immediately. For young victims and their parents, these deepfakes are a matter requiring urgent attention and protection in law. I will continue to work with my colleagues in Washington to move this common-sense bipartisan legislation quickly through the House and to the President’s desk so it can be signed into law.”
“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. This bipartisan legislation builds on my work to ensure that victims can have this material removed from social media platforms and will ensure law enforcement can hold perpetrators accountable,” said Senator Klobuchar.
The TAKE IT DOWN Act has received widespread support from nearly 90 organizations, including victim advocacy groups, law enforcement, and tech industry leaders.
Leaders from both large and small social media platforms, dating apps, and tech organizations, including 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.
Last month, 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 this Congress.
The TAKE IT DOWN Act has also been endorsed by editorial boards of the Seattle Times, Houston Chronicle, and Dallas Morning News.
Cassidy, Cruz, and Klobuchar were joined by U.S. Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Ted Budd (R-NC), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Todd Young (R-IN), Joe Manchin (I-WV), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Barrasso (R-WY), John Thune (R-SD), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Gary Peters (D-MI), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) in introducing the legislation.
U.S. Representatives Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27) and Madeleine Dean (D-PA-04) have introduced companion legislation in the House.
Background
While nearly every state has a law protecting people from NCII, including 31 states with laws explicitly covering deepfake NCII, 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:
- 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.
- Protecting good faith efforts to assist victims. The bill permits the good faith disclosure of NCII, such as to law enforcement, in narrow cases.
- 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.
- 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.
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