House Passes Bill to Ban Sharing of Revenge Porn, Sending It to Trump - The New York Times


AI Summary Hide AI Generated Summary

Key Points

The House passed the bipartisan Take It Down Act, aiming to criminalize the nonconsensual distribution of explicit photos and videos, encompassing AI-generated deepfakes.

The act mandates that online platforms remove such content within two days of notification.

The bill passed the Senate unanimously in February and enjoys President Trump's support, making it likely to be signed into law.

Background

This legislation represents the first internet content law passed by Congress since 2018, focusing on revenge porn and deepfakes but seen as a larger step toward regulating internet companies.

Senator Amy Klobuchar stated that she discussed the bill with President Trump and the first lady, influenced by stories of families affected by the harm caused by such images.

Impact

The Act is a significant development in regulating online content, bringing together conservatives and liberals in addressing concerns about online safety and the spread of harmful material.

  • It demonstrates a bipartisan commitment to combating revenge porn and the misuse of AI-generated content.
  • The Act aims to hold internet companies accountable for harmful content on their platforms.
Sign in to unlock more AI features Sign in with Google

The House on Monday overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation to criminalize the nonconsensual sharing of sexually explicit photos and videos of others — including A.I.-generated images known as “deepfakes” — and to mandate that platforms quickly remove them.

The vote of 409 to 2 cleared the measure for President Trump, who was expected to quickly sign it.

The legislation, known as the Take It Down Act, aims to crack down on the sharing of material known as “revenge porn,” requiring that social media companies and online platforms remove such images within two days of being notified of them.

The measure, which brought together an unlikely coalition of conservatives and liberals in both parties, passed the Senate unanimously in February. The support of Mr. Trump, who mentioned it during his joint address to Congress last month, appears to have smoothed its path through Congress.

The legislation, introduced by Senators Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, and Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, is the first internet content law to clear Congress since 2018, when lawmakers approved legislation to fight online sex trafficking. And though it focuses on revenge porn and deepfakes, the bill is seen as an important step toward regulating internet companies that have for decades escaped government scrutiny.

Ms. Klobuchar said she brought the bill to the attention of Mr. Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, while speaking with them at an inauguration-day lunch.

The senator said she was moved by the stories of families whose children had experienced harassment, bullying or mental and emotional harm because of these images.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

🧠 Pro Tip

Skip the extension — just come straight here.

We’ve built a fast, permanent tool you can bookmark and use anytime.

Go To Paywall Unblock Tool
Sign up for a free account and get the following:
  • Save articles and sync them across your devices
  • Get a digest of the latest premium articles in your inbox twice a week, personalized to you (Coming soon).
  • Get access to our AI features

  • Save articles to reading lists
    and access them on any device
    If you found this app useful,
    Please consider supporting us.
    Thank you!

    Save articles to reading lists
    and access them on any device
    If you found this app useful,
    Please consider supporting us.
    Thank you!