United States President Donald Trump has officially signed the Take It Down Act into law, making it a federal crime to distribute intimate images without the consent of those depicted — including explicit content created using artificial intelligence.
The newly enacted legislation, which enjoyed strong bipartisan support in Congress, criminalizes the unauthorized sharing of explicit materials and requires online platforms to remove such content swiftly.
Speaking during the signing ceremony at the White House Rose Garden, Trump addressed growing concerns about digital privacy in the AI era. “With the rise of AI image generation, countless women have been harassed with deepfakes and other explicit images distributed against their will,” he remarked.
The president added, “And today we’re making it totally illegal.” He further stated that “anyone who intentionally distributes explicit images without the subject’s consent will face up to three years in prison.”
Trump also revealed that any digital platform that fails to take down flagged content within 48 hours of notification would be subject to civil penalties under the new federal guidelines.
In a rare public appearance, First Lady Melania Trump attended the signing event, having previously thrown her support behind the bill back in March. Since her husband’s inauguration on January 20, she has kept a notably low profile in Washington.
Praising the significance of the law, the First Lady said, “This legislation is a powerful step forward in our efforts to ensure that every American, especially young people, can feel better protected from their image or identity being abused.” She described the bill as a “national victory that will help parents and families protect children from online exploitation.”
The rise of deepfake technology — realistic but artificially manipulated images and videos — has sparked increasing alarm, especially as it has been weaponized in cases of non-consensual pornography.
While states like California and Florida had already passed laws targeting explicit deepfakes, digital rights groups have expressed concern about aspects of this new federal legislation.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), an organization advocating for online freedom, warned that the bill might open the door for powerful individuals to censor content unfairly. The group stated that the legislation provides “the powerful a dangerous new route to manipulate platforms into removing lawful speech that they simply don’t like.”
