Austin News

The Senate has unanimously passed the TAKE IT DOWN Act, a legislative effort introduced by U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz and Senator Amy Klobuchar. This act aims to criminalize the publication of non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), including AI-generated NCII or "deepfake revenge pornography." The bill mandates social media and similar platforms to remove such content within 48 hours upon receiving notice from a victim.

This legislation was unanimously approved by both the Commerce Committee and the full Senate during the 118th Congress. In the current 119th Congress, U.S. Representatives Maria Elvira Salazar and Madeleine Dean have reintroduced companion legislation in the House. The TAKE IT DOWN Act has garnered support from over 100 organizations, encompassing victim advocacy groups, law enforcement, and leaders in the tech industry.

Senator Cruz emphasized, "The TAKE IT DOWN Act gives victims of revenge and deepfake pornography—many of whom are young girls—the ability to fight back. Under our bipartisan bill, those who knowingly spread this vile material will face criminal charges, and Big Tech companies must remove exploitative content without delay."

Senator Klobuchar added, "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."

The bill is co-sponsored by several senators across party lines, including Shelley Moore Capito, Richard Blumenthal, Bill Cassidy, Cory Booker, John Barrasso, Jacky Rosen, Cynthia Lummis, John Hickenlooper, Ted Budd, Marsha Blackburn, Roger Wicker, Todd Young, John Curtis, Tim Sheehy, Raphael Warnock, Martin Heinrich, Gary Peters, Adam Schiff, Catherine Cortez Masto and Jeanne Shaheen.

Currently nearly every state has laws protecting individuals from NCII; however these laws vary significantly in terms of crime classification and penalties leading to uneven prosecution efforts. Victims often find it difficult to have images removed from websites which increases trauma as these images continue to circulate.

In response to these challenges faced by victims in seeking justice through civil action due its impracticality being time-consuming costly potentially retraumatizing -the TAKE IT DOWN Act proposes comprehensive measures:

- Criminalizes NCII publication across interstate commerce defining it inclusively covering realistic computer-generated pornographic depictions involving identifiable real people.

- Protects good faith disclosures aimed at assisting victims allowing limited disclosure like reporting cases law enforcement.

- Mandates removal procedures requiring online platforms act promptly within specified timeframe upon receiving valid requests ensuring reasonable efforts made eliminating image copies overseen Federal Trade Commission.

- Narrowly tailors scope ensuring alignment First Amendment rights maintaining lawful speech while targeting offenders under strict guidelines demanding indistinguishable resemblance authentic imagery via “reasonable person” test standard compliance existing jurisprudence norms.