Senator Lummis Cosponsors Legislation to Protect Victims of Deepfake Revenge Porn

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) joined Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in introducing bipartisan legislation that would require social media websites to take down explicit imagery and make publishing it a federal crime. The Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act is aimed at protecting and empowering victims of non-consensual intimate image abuse, also known as “revenge pornography.” The bill would criminalize the publication of non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), including AI-generated NCII or “deepfake pornography”, and require social media and similar websites to have procedures in place to remove such content upon notification from a victim.

Senator Lummis said AI is the future, and the way this technology can be used to improve lives around the globe is truly infinite, but with any new industry, comes the need to ensure it is not being used by bad actors, and AI is no different. By requiring a notice and takedown process from websites that contain user generated content, including social media sites, the TAKE IT DOWN Act will ensure that, if the content is published online, victims are protected from being retraumatized again and again. Text of the bill can be read here.