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Washington DC [US], May 20 (ANI): US President Donald Trump signed the Take It Down Act into law, a landmark piece of legislation championed by US First Lady Melania Trump.
In addition to making it illegal to share online non-consensual explicit images—whether real or computer-generated—the law also requires tech platforms to remove such images within 48 hours of being notified about them, CNN reported.
“In the Rose Garden today, President Donald J. Trump signed the Take It Down Act into law—landmark legislation championed by First Lady Melania Trump. WE MUST PROTECT OUR CHILDREN!”
First Lady Melania Trump added:
“Today, through the ‘TAKE IT DOWN’ Act, we affirm that the well-being of our children is central to the future of our families and America. I am proud to say that the values of BE BEST will be reflected in the law of the land.”
In recent years, people ranging from Taylor Swift and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to high school girls across the country have been victims of non-consensual, explicit deepfakes—images where a person’s face is superimposed on a nude body using artificial intelligence.
The law will boost protections for victims of revenge porn and non-consensual, AI-generated sexual images. It will also increase accountability for the tech platforms where such content is shared and provide law enforcement with clarity on how to prosecute these offenses.
Previously, federal law prohibited the creation or distribution of realistic, AI-generated explicit images of children. However, protections for adult victims varied by state and were not uniformly enforced nationwide, according to CNN.
The Take It Down Act also represents one of the first new US federal laws aimed at addressing the potential harms posed by AI-generated content, as the technology continues to advance rapidly.
“AI is new to a lot of us and so I think we’re still figuring out what is helpful to society, what is harmful to society, but (non-consensual) intimate deepfakes are such a clear harm with no benefit,” CNN quoted Ilana Beller as saying, who is organizing manager at the progressive advocacy group Public Citizen, which endorsed the legislation.
(ANI)
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