TAKE IT DOWN Act and Non-Consensual Deepfake Laws

The name stands for Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks. Senators Ted Cruz and Amy Klobuchar sponsored the bill. It passed the Senate unanimously and the House by a wide margin, and President Trump signed it on May 19, 2025. The law has two parts. First, it makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish intimate images of an identifiable person without consent, whether the images are real or computer-generated "digital forgeries." For adults, the prosecutor must show the publisher intended harm or that harm resulted. For minors, a different and broader intent standard applies. Penalties reach up to two years in prison for cases involving adults and three years for cases involving minors, and threatening to publish such images is also a crime. The law states that agreeing to have an image made is not the same as agreeing to have it published. Second, covered platforms had one year, until May 2026, to set up a notice-and-removal process. They must take down reported images within 48 hours of a valid request and make reasonable efforts to remove identical copies. The Federal Trade Commission enforces these duties. Civil liberties groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation criticized the removal rules. There is no penalty for false requests, and a 48-hour deadline encourages platforms to remove content without checking. Supporters argued that victims needed speed more than anything. The Act adds to existing law rather than replacing it. Since 2022, federal law has let victims sue people who disclose their intimate images. Nearly every state now has a law against non-consensual intimate imagery, and many have been updated to cover deepfakes. A common misconception is that the Act bans all deepfakes. It covers intimate imagery only, and its criminal provisions target publishing, not private creation.