President Trump Signs Law That Bans Non-consensual, AI-Generated Images
President Donald Trump signed a bill that bans the sharing of non-consensual, explicit images — whether real or AI-generated. The legislation also requires tech platforms to remove such pictures within 48 hours of being notified about them.
The Take It Down Act, introduced by Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the President during a signing ceremony at the White House on Monday.
Trump signed the bipartisan Take It Down Act into law in an effort to combat non-consensual, intimate imagery, including deepfakes and revenge porn.
The legislation bans the online publication of non-consensual, sexually explicit images and videos that are both authentic and AI-generated. It makes publishing such content illegal, subjecting violators to mandatory restitution and criminal penalties such as prison, fines, or both. The bill also establishes criminal penalties for people who threaten to publish the intimate visual depictions, some of which are created using artificial intelligence.
The bill would require websites, through enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission, to remove such offending images within 48 hours of receiving a victim’s request and to make efforts to remove any copies of the content.
A Rare Federal Law That Targets AI Images
The Take It Down Act received overwhelming support in Congress, passing with near-unanimous approval and facing opposition from only two members of the House — marking a rare instance of bipartisan agreement. According to CNN, it stands among the first pieces of U.S. federal laws aimed at tackling the risks posed by AI-generated content amid the technology’s rapid evolution and criminalizing the sharing of offending images.
Although many states already have laws against non-consensual intimate imagery and sexually explicit deepfakes, the severity of charges and penalties differs significantly. Victims often face major hurdles when trying to get such content removed from the internet, making it more likely that the material continues to circulate and causes ongoing trauma.
“With the rise of AI image generation, countless women have been harassed with deepfakes and other explicit images distributed against their will. This is wrong, and it’s just so horribly wrong,” Trump says during the signing ceremony. “It’s a very abusive situation, like in some cases, people have never seen before. And today we’re making it totally illegal.”
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
