Latest news with #TakeItDownAct
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Deepfake Revenge Porn Is AI Generation's Online Horror Story
President Donald Trump speaks alongside First Lady Melania Trump during a signing ceremony for the Take It Down Act, on May 19. Trump signed a bill to force social media companies to remove non-consensual sharing of explicit sexual imagery online, calling it a 'horribly wrong' situation.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Governor McMaster signs South Carolina law banning 'revenge porn'
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) – In Columbia, Governor Henry McMaster held a ceremonial bill signing of a law that will stop the non-consensual sharing of sexual images, commonly referred to as 'revenge porn.'The Disclosure of Intimate Images Act passed unanimously at the State House, officially making the act of sharing sexually explicit images, maliciously and without permission, illegal in South Carolina. 'We got a lot of information from people, from their experiences, we've seen tragedies occur,' McMaster said. 'We've seen these crimes occur, but this particular one in South Carolina was not a crime at the time, but it is now.' This bill makes it clear that receiving a photo from someone does not mean the sender agrees for it to be shared anywhere else. 'I want to continue to just like the other folks appear to, to protect our, not only just our daughters and wives and significant others, but just our sons, too,' Representative Chris Wooten (R – Lexington). Attorney General Alan Wilson said this law has similarities to other legislation that was passed on a federal and state level. He added that South Carolina lawmakers are still working on bills to protect citizens even further. 'President's signing of the Take It Down Act, which is a federal counterpart to this state law, and, I like our law better because it's got stiffer penalties,' Wilson said. 'But not just this law that the governor signing today that's going to make it harder or make it better for us to be able to go after people who exploit those using the internet.' The law said posting or sharing intimate photos could result up to five years in prison, and a $5,000 fine for the first offense. A second offense could land you behind bars for as long as ten years, with a maximum of $10,000 in fines. 'One thing that we did way back was our state constitution guarantees a right to privacy and uses that word,' McMaster said. 'The U.S. Constitution doesn't use that word. Our constitution does, so we have a basis for these kinds of laws that can't be challenged.' South Carolina was the last state in the country to pass this type of law, and lawmakers said this bill finally fills a gap in the state's privacy laws. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Officials praise new law criminalizing ‘revenge porn.' SC was the last state to ban it.
Gov. Henry McMaster speaks about a new law criminalizing what's commonly called "revenge porn" at a signing ceremony Thursday, May 29, 2025. Behind him from left to right is Rep. Chris Wooten, Attorney General Alan Wilson and Lt. Gov. Pam Evette. (Photo by Shaun Chornobroff/SC Daily Gazette) COLUMBIA — South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster praised a new law criminalizing the nonconsensual sharing of intimate images, also known as 'revenge porn,' which lawmakers said Thursday was long overdue. Since last June, when a law in Massachusetts took effect, South Carolina had been the only state in the nation that didn't ban the distribution of nude photos of someone without permission. The Palmetto State ban applies to photos and videos. Those include fake images made through artificial intelligence or any other technology that are 'indistinguishable from an authentic visual depiction of the individual.' Thursday's celebratory signing at the Statehouse comes 10 days after President Donald Trump signed a similar bill into law. 'We've seen tragedies occur. We've seen these crimes occur. But this particular one in South Carolina was not a crime at the time, but it is now,' said McMaster, who actually signed the bill into law on May 12. It took effect immediately. Differences between the new state and federal laws include the punishment. Here's how you can use the Take It Down Act Under the federal 'Take It Down Act,' the maximum penalty is a $5,000 fine and two years in prison — three years if the victim is a minor. In South Carolina, the same crime is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. For any additional conviction, the violator faces up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The exception would be someone who can prove there was no intent to damage the victim's reputation or cause harm. That would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail on first offense only. A provision in the federal law additionally gives victims a way to get a photo or video removed from social media. But that part, which requires online platforms to create a request-and-removal process, doesn't take effect until next year. Rep. Brandon Guffey said the state law's passage signifies an age shift in the Legislature. 'It shows that there is a new generation within the Statehouse that understands cybercrimes,' said the Rock Hill Republican. Rep. Chris Wooten, the lead sponsor for several years, has said previous efforts died not because of opposition, but rather a lack of understanding of the problem — or that it existed. The Lexington Republican started pushing for the legislation after his work on an oversight committee made him realize law enforcement had no way of prosecuting people who spread images without consent — but weren't doing it for profit. He pre-filed his first bill in December 2022. At the time, South Carolina was among three states that didn't criminalize it. That bill died last year without ever getting a hearing. Wooten pre-filed another bill ahead of this year's session. This time, it passed both chambers unanimously before getting the governor's signature. 'I want to continue to protect not only our daughters, wives and significant others, but our sons too,' Wooten said in McMaster's office for the public signing. In 2023, the Legislature passed a law banning sexual extortion, often called 'sextortion,' when someone uses sexual photos or videos to blackmail people. That law is named Gavin's Law after Guffey's 17-year-old son, who died by suicide three years ago after a scammer posing as a college girl on Instagram threatened to release explicit photos unless he kept sending them money. Nigerian man faces life in a US prison for sextortion that led to death of SC legislator's son A Nigerian man was extradited earlier this year to the U.S. to face federal charges for the scam. But Gavin's Law applies only if money is involved, not if someone is using it embarrass, humiliate or harm someone's reputation. Beyond leading for the more protections in South Carolina law, Guffey traveled to Washington, D.C., in February to call on Congress to pass the federal version of what's commonly called 'revenge porn.' He was among attendees at the White House ceremony May 19 when Trump signed it into law. Attorney General Alan Wilson said he prefers the South Carolina version because of the tougher penalties. 'Thank you for what you did,' Wilson said of the law's passage. 'Now we can get to work.' Other laws passed this year will also help his office protect children, he said. Those include two bills criminalizing the use of AI — or any other technology — to create or morph images and videos of children into inappropriate content. Another new law, one that Wilson lauded as a 'game changer', granted his office power to subpoena websites and internet providers to locate people suspected of accessing child pornography, speeding up these investigations. These new laws will 'make it better for us to be able to go after people who exploit those using the internet,' Wilson said. All of those laws passed in the final days of this year's legislative session, which officially ended May 8. Better late than never, McMaster said. 'Some folks say in politics, 'nothing gets done without a deadline,'' he said in his office, before sitting down for the public signing. 'It takes legislation a long time to pass. Sometimes, it takes way too long.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Threatens 50% Tariffs on EU, Rattling Markets
The European Union's reprieve from the worst of U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war might have been short lived. Trump recommended 'a straight 50 percent tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1' in a post on social media Friday, saying that transatlantic trade talks 'are going nowhere.' More from WWD JD Sports CEO Calls Foot Locker Acquisition 'Positive' for Market, Calls Out Trump's Immigration Policy for Slowdown at Shoe Palace Karoline Leavitt's Style Spotlighted by Designer, Scrutinized by Others Melania Trump Sports Prada Suit for Take It Down Act Signing While imports from the EU were hit with 20 percent tariffs when Trump rolled out his reordering of global trade on 'Liberation Day,' April 2, that was cut to 10 percent pending negotiations. Washington's hardball, yet start-and-stop, approach to trade did open up talks with countries around the world but few deals have been struck. The exception is the U.K., which is no longer part of the EU. The tariff threat on Friday pressured shares of luxury houses that produce many of their goods in the EU and are looking for the U.S. consumer to offset weakness in China. Among the decliners were Hermès International, down 4 percent to 2,340 euros; Brunello Cucinelli, 3.6 percent to 103.90 euros; Compagnie Financière Richemont, 2.7 percent to $155.95; LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, 2.5 percent to 472.85 euros; Salvatore Ferragamo, 2.5 percent to 5.56 euros; Moncler, 2.4 percent to 53.50 euros, and Kering, 2.3 percent to 171.50 euros. U.S. markets were also rattled with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.7 percent, or 333.21 points, to 41,469.10 in early trading ahead of the long Memorial Day weekend. Trump reiterated that the EU was formed for 'the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on trade' and said the bloc has been 'very difficult to deal with.' 'Their powerful trade barriers, VAT taxes, ridiculous corporate penalties, non-monetary trade barriers, monetary manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against American companies, and more, have led to a trade deficit with the U.S. of more than $250,000,000 a year, a number which is totally unacceptable,' he said. That figure understates the goods deficit with the EU, which the U.S. Trade Representative's office pegged at '$235.6 billion in 2024, a 12.9 percent increase ($26.9 billion) over 2023.' While Trump recommended a 50 percent tariff on EU goods, these numbers have a way of moving lower. China, after some tit-for-tat tariff boosts, saw tariffs on its goods shoot up to 245 percent this spring — a level that was in effect an economic embargo. But those tariffs fell to 30 percent for 90 days to facilitate negotiations. Best of WWD Pandemic Has Stoked Appetite for French Luxury, Survey Finds U.S. Sets Strategic Vision for China Trade Policy Furmark's Farm-to-Shopfloor Tracing Tags Set for International Debut
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Fact Check: Melania Trump didn't sign executive order — here's what she did sign
Claim: In mid-May 2025, U.S. first lady Melania Trump signed an executive order alongside President Donald Trump. Rating: What's True: While Melania Trump signed the Take It Down Act with U.S. President Donald Trump, only the president's signature makes the act law. Melania Trump's signature has no legal authority and is merely symbolic. What's False: Melania Trump did not sign an executive order, but added her signature to a bill passed by the U.S. Congress. An executive order is signed by the president and does not need congressional approval. In mid-May 2025, as U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Take It Down Act — a law that makes it illegal to publish intimate visual depictions of people, both authentic and computer generated, without their consent — many social media users noted that first lady Melania Trump signed the document as well. Snopes received numerous queries from readers who shared several posts and memes claiming the first lady signed an executive order. (X user @thetonymichaels) However, Melania Trump did not sign an executive order. Instead, she signed a document that officially ratified into law a bill that was passed by Congress. The president signed the document first, making the law official, before encouraging her to do so as well. Therefore, Melania Trump's signature was purely symbolic because, as first lady, she has no legislative authority. As such, we have rated this claim as mostly false. According to White House footage and press coverage, the first lady joined the president on May 19, 2025, to sign the Take It Down Act, which she described as part of her "Be Best" initiative that would "help parents and families protect children from online exploitation." The legislation makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish or threaten to publish intimate images — including AI-generated deepfakes, described as "digital forgeries" in the bill — without a person's consent. The bill prohibits the online publication of explicit visuals featuring: an adult subject where publication is intended to cause or does cause harm to the subject, and where the depiction was published without the subject's consent or, in the case of an authentic depiction, was created or obtained under circumstances where the adult had a reasonable expectation of privacy; or a minor subject where publication is intended to abuse or harass the minor or to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person. At the White House event for the signing, the president noted that Melania Trump had ushered the bill forward. After Donald Trump signed the bill into law, he encouraged his wife to sign the document. She appeared to mildly object when he said: "C'mon, sign it anyway. She deserves to sign it." The exchange can be seen below. Per photographs on Getty Images, the first lady can be seen signing the document. When the president holds it up, her signature is visible below his. () () However, social media users erroneously stated that Melania signed an executive order. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, an executive order is a written directive signed by the president to order the government to take specific actions. A bill, on the other hand, is a piece of legislation that needs to be passed by Congress and signed by the president to become law. An executive order does not require congressional approval to be implemented and Congress cannot simply overturn it. The Associated Press noted that Melania's signature was a purely symbolic gesture. Her participation in the signing took place because she advocated for this bill in Congress. As first lady, she is in an unelected and unpaid role and does not have the power to approve legislation. First ladies, according to act as unofficial advisers to the president, host White House parties and advocate for a range of social issues and causes. Per Melania's speech at the signing: This legislation is a powerful step forward in our efforts to ensure that every American—especially our young people—can feel better protected from their image or identity being abused through non-consensual intimate imagery or NCII. Artificial Intelligence and social media are the digital candy of the next generation—sweet, addictive, and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children. But unlike sugar, these new technologies can be weaponized, shape beliefs, and sadly, affect emotions and even be deadly. The Take It Down Act also requires social media companies to remove such imagery within 48 hours of being notified by a victim. While many states have banned the spread of sexually explicit deepfakes or revenge porn, this act enables the federal government to impose the rule on social media companies. Anders, Christopher. "What Is an Executive Order and How Does It Work? | ACLU." American Civil Liberties Union, 4 Feb. 2025, Accessed 27 May 2025. "First Ladies: Political Role and Public Image." Smithsonian, Accessed 27 May 2025. "First Lady Melania Trump Joins President Trump for Signing of the 'TAKE IT DOWN' Act." The White House, 20 May 2025, Accessed 27 May 2025. "First Lady Melania Trump Signs the TAKE IT DOWN Act alongside U.S...." Getty Images, 19 May 2025, Accessed 27 May 2025. "ICYMI: President Trump Signs TAKE IT DOWN Act into Law." The White House, 20 May 2025, Accessed 27 May 2025. "President Trump and First Lady Melania Sign the Take It Down Act into Law in the Rose Garden." YouTube, The White House, 19 May 2025, Accessed 27 May 2025. "President Trump Signs Take It Down Act, Addressing Nonconsensual Deepfakes. What Is It?" AP News, 29 Apr. 2025, Accessed 27 May 2025. Presidents, Vice Presidents, and First Ladies | USAGov. Accessed 27 May 2025. "S.146 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): TAKE IT DOWN Act." Library of Congress, 19 May 2025, The Ongoing Evolution of the Position of First Lady | The American Presidency Project. Accessed 27 May 2025. "Trump Signs a Bill to Make Posting 'revenge Porn' a Federal Crime. He Had the First Lady Sign, Too." AP News, 19 May 2025, Accessed 27 May 2025. "U.S. First Lady Melania Trump Smiles as President Donald Trump Holds..." Getty Images, 19 May 2025, Accessed 27 May 2025. U.S. Senate: Laws and Acts. Accessed 27 May 2025. What Is an Executive Order? Accessed 27 May 2025.
