US President Donald Trump on Monday signed his sixth Bill into law since he was elected for his second term.
This has been termed as the lowest number of bills signed into law by a sitting US President in their first 100 days since the 1950s.
The signing followed a unanimous passing of the Bill by both the Congress and the Senate.
The ‘Take it Down Act’ criminalises publishing non-consensual, sexually explicit images and videos, including the ones generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications.
In the Act, perpetrators will face up to three years of imprisonment, with harsher penalties for images involving minors.
The Act also requires platforms to remove the content within 48 hours of notice.
Enforcement of the bill would be handled by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Reporting systems to handle takedown requests will be introduced a year after the enactment, while criminal enforcement begins immediately.
There has been rising concern over Deepfake pornography and harassment, which have become more prevalent in the US and across the world with the advancement of AI. This has affected even schools.
However, there are no federal laws banning the use of AI imagery and be used to bring the creators of these images to account.
The Bills was sponsored by Texas Senator Ted Cruz in June 2024 after a 2023 incident where several Aledo, Texas, high school students were subjected to sexual harassment when another student had taken seemingly innocent photos of them, but then posted photo-manipulated pictures of the students on Snapchat using existing software to make them appear nude.
The Bill was strongly supported by First Lady Melania Trump, who championed the legislation.
Speaking during the signing ceremony which she was part of, Melania said the new law affirms that the well-being of children is central to the future of families and America.
She added that while this is one major step, a lot of work remains to be done and the shift now moves to the Federal Trade Commission and the private sector to do their part.
“This legislation is a powerful step forward in our efforts to ensure that every American, especially our young people, can feel better protected from their image or identity being abused through non-consensual intimate imagery or NCII.
“Artificial Intelligence and social media are the digital candy of the next generation—sweet, addictive, and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children. But unlike sugar, these new technologies can be weaponized, shape beliefs, and sadly, affect emotions and even be deadly,” the US First Lady said.
President Trump said the United States will not tolerate online sexual exploitation going forward.
He also praised Melania for bringing together Democrats and Republicans, who ordinarily don’t work together, to agree to pass the Bill.
He noted that despite objections, the bill was passed by some very brave leaders of Congress.
“We will not tolerate online sexual exploitation, it has gone high to levels we have never seen before. It is getting once, and I hope this is hopefully going to stop it,” Trump said.
“I want to thank Melania for your leadership on this very important issue. America is blessed to have such a dedicated and compassionate First Lady.”
