Deepfakes? Revenge porn? Trump signs bi-partisan Take It Down Act to combat fake intimate images
Take it down is the newest chant and act coming from Congress to curtail non-consensual intimate imagery, including deepfakes and revenge porn.
On May 19, President Donald Trump signed the bipartisan "Take It Down" Act, which has received support from both sides of the aisle. The act mirrors some state acts and proposed bills in the effort to combat the distribution of intimate images that the parties represented in did not consent to, including a bill from Tennessee.
The national bill, first introduced last year by Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, is championed by Melania Trump as part of the first lady's recently reupped "Be Best" campaign.
Here's a look at what the act entails.
While state legislations can put penalties on the distribution of these intimate images, victims have struggled to have images depicting them removed from websites, increasing the likelihood that the images will be continuously spread and the victims retraumatized by it.
"The Take It Down Act will protect victims of digital exploitation, hold internet platforms accountable by requiring them to remove such imagery from their platform and provide justice for victims by allowing prosecutors to go after those who publish nonconsensual explicit images online," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
The Take it Down Act now criminalizes the publication of non-consensual intimate imagery, including deepfakes that are usually AI-generated images that may impose a person's face onto an image or even video to make it look like them.
Here are some of the key elements of the act:
Makes non-consensual intimate imagery a federal crime. Meaning if a person knowingly publishes or shares it on social media and other online platforms, they can be charged.
Also clarifies language so that the consent to create an image does not mean consent to share it.
Social media sites, websites or any online platform have to remove non-consensual intimate imagery upon notice from the victim within 48 hours of the verified request.
Non-consensual intimate imagery, also known as NCII in the act, includes realistic, computer-generated pornographic images and videos that depict identifiable, real people.
In April, former NewsChannel 5 meteorologist Bree Smith pushed the Tennessee House legislature to pass a bill the would make it illegal in the state for someone to post "intimate" deep fakes online.
Smith, a deepfake victim, testified before the House that images of a "semi-nude body" with her face superimposed on it had been circulating online. She was happy to hear that the House of Representatives listened to her story and passed the bill.
"I am a flood of emotions," Smith posted on Facebook. "I'm most proud of the fact that my boys were with me … that they got to see first hand that justice is possible."
The Preventing Deep Fake Images Act, passed the House with no opposition April 21 and a week later passed the Senate 32-0.
Here's what it includes:
Makes it a felony "to disclose or threaten to disclose or solicit the disclosure of an intimate digital depiction with the intent to harass, annoy, threaten, alarm, or cause substantial harm to the finances or reputation of the depicted individual."
People who are the victim of a deepfake are able to sue the person who posted images or videos without consent for financial damages.
USA TODAY and Brad Schmitt with The Tennessean contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What is the Take It Down Act? Congress tackles deepfakes, revenge porn
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