US: Donald Trump signs ‘Take It Down’ Act to combat ‘revenge porn’
Melania Trump, during the signing ceremony, hailed the bill as a “national victory” which will help parents “protect children from online exploitation”.
United States President Donald Trump signed the ‘Take It Down Act’ on Monday during a signing ceremony at the Rose Garden of the White House alongside his wife, Melania Trump. The act makes it a federal crime to share intimate or explicit images of someone without their consent, whether real or generated with the help of artificial intelligence.
The landmark act, which comes into effect at a time when making deepfakes videos has become easier than ever, was championed by the First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump, who also signed the act, albeit symbolically.
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"With the rise of AI image generation, countless women have been harassed with deepfakes and other explicit images distributed against their will," Trump said while signing the bill, reported AFP.
"And today we're making it illegal…Anyone who intentionally distributes explicit images without the subject's consent will face up to three years in prison," he added.
Melania Trump, during the signing ceremony, hailed the bill as a “national victory” which will help parents and families “protect children from online exploitation”.
"This legislation is a powerful step forward in our efforts to ensure that every American, especially young people, can feel better protected from their image or identity being abused," AFP quoted her as saying.
What is the Take It Down Act?
According to the ‘Take It Down’ Act, it is now a federal crime to knowingly publish on any online platform or share on social media someone’s intimate images without their consent, whether it is real or AI-generated. According to a report by USA Today, the act also makes it clear that permission to create an image doesn’t mean there is consent to share it.
The Act also mandates that websites and social media companies where such images have been shared take them down within 48 hours, along with their duplicates, upon the request of a victim.
The ‘Take It Down’ bill was introduced by Senator Ted Cruz, who is a Republican from Texas and Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, back in 2024, according to the USA Today report and was later championed by Melania Trump.
The bill garnered overwhelming bipartisan support upon introduction at the US Congress and was passed with a 409-2 vote in April this year.
