Activists Warn Newly Passed Bill to Combat Deepfakes Will Cause Online Chaos

When it comes to digital rights and protection, the United States’ federal government has generally failed to establish comprehensive legislation. On Monday, Congress seemed to make progress by nearly unanimously passing a bill to combat nonconsensual intimate images online. But as the bill heads to President Trump, who already voiced his intentions to sign it, digital rights advocates warn that a combination of vague language and lack of safeguards makes it ripe for misuse. Introduced by Sens. Ted Cruz and Amy Klobuchar in 2024, the Take It Down Act criminalizes the distribution of nonconsensual intimate images (NCII) which includes “revenge porn” and AI deepfakes. It also requires specific platforms to establish processes to report NCII and remove offending content within 48 hours of notification. The bill has garnered bipartisan support, including from Trump’s own family as his wife, Melania, hosted a White House roundtable about it in March. That same month, Trump told Congress t ... Read full article.