Trump Just Signed a Bill Into Law Targeting Sexually Explicit Deepfakes and Revenge Porn

In the White House Rose Garden on Monday, President Donald Trump signed the Take It Down Act into law.

This federal law is designed to target non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), which encompasses “revenge porn” and sexually explicit deepfakes.

“Revenge porn” which is when sexually explicit images of an individual are posted on the internet without their consent in an attempt to create public humiliation and character assassination. This has occurred for many years, especially with the growth of social media. This is typically carried out by someone's previous sexual partner. In fact, for some time, there were websites that were dedicated to revenge porn that would allow users to post explicit images of their exes.

Sexually explicit deepfakes are a different animal. These types of pornographic videos are created using artificial intelligence (AI) to show highly realistic depictions of specific individuals. These videos often “swap” a victim’s face onto the body of a person in a pre-existing pornographic video. Additionally, other AI tools can create realistic sexually explicit images of real people. In some cases, AI tools can “undress” people in real photos to make them appear nude.

According to NBC, in 2023, more nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfakes were posted online than in all previous years combined.

The law signed by Trump today criminalizes the publication of this type of content and requires it to be removed within 48 hours of notification from a victim. The law was championed by first lady Melania Trump. This bipartisan legislation was initially introduced by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (TX) and Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar (MN).