On May 19, the TAKE IT DOWN Act (Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act) was put into full effect. This law specifically targets digital sexual abuse by requiring social media platforms to take down non-consensual sexual imagery—such as AI deepfakes of non-consenting individuals—within 48 hours of posting. These platforms must now establish a clear notice and removal system for such content, allowing the victims to be quickly alerted for swift reporting and deletion.
Authored by Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), this bipartisan legislation was introduced in January of 2025 and signed into law on May 19, 2025. The bill was created to target “revenge porn,” or AI-generated deepfakes of non-consenting and/or uninformed individuals depicted as engaging in sexual behavior for the purpose of humiliation. Deepfakes are hyper-realistic digital forgeries created with AI, whether in video, pictorial, or audio form.
However, the law applies to non-AI content that has been posted without consent as well. Social media platforms were given a year to develop and implement their notice and removal systems. As of last Tuesday, May 19, all platforms were expected to have these systems in full effect.
This law comes at a time where the rapid increase in AI content on social media raises fear of misinformation, impersonation, and harassment online. Paris Hilton, a known victim of image-based abuse, has spoken on the Hill in favor of other legislation that targets nonconsensual deepfakes. These AI forgeries affect both public figures and women more generally.
A 2023 study showed that 98% of deepfake videos are sexual in nature and that 99% of them depict women. Further, the World Economic Forum recently ranked AI-generated misinformation and disinformation as one of the most severe short term global risks in a 2026 report.
The TAKE IT DOWN Act is a step towards criminalizing nonconsensual sexual content online. It gives survivors back their autonomy and serves justice on the perpetrators. Just last Wednesday, two men—in unrelated cases—were charged and arrested for posting thousands of AI-generated non-consensual sexual images and videos that were made to impersonate real people.
Yet, as is the case with many laws that protect sexual abuse survivors, this act is reactionary as opposed to proactive. It exists as damage control for the harmful effects of nonstop AI development, but fails at actually decreasing the number of victims of online sexual abuse, let alone decreasing the severity of trauma incurred by victims.
Similar to how increasing the severity of punishment for non-online sexual abuse cases is not proven to decrease the number of victims, it’s doubtful that stricter punishments in this case will lead to a decrease in online sexual abuse victims. Moreover, taking down these posts does nothing to offset the initial effects of being sexually violated online. The burden of action for reporting these violations falls on the victim, which has an irreparable effect on the victim’s mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. Therefore, the success of this law is unlikely to travel beyond the land of harm mitigation. Nevertheless, it’s an important first step.
A distinct concern of some regarding the TAKE IT DOWN Act is its potential infringement on freedom of speech. The law may incentivize social platform companies to err on the side of overcorrection during the 48 hour takedown period. Additionally, without the right verification systems in place, those motivated by self interests or with malicious intent may remove content such as political criticism that includes sexual depictions.
In fact, President Trump told Congress that he would use the law to his own advantage to censor legal online critiques of him and his administration: “I’m going to use that bill for myself too if you don’t mind, because nobody gets treated worse than I do online, nobody.”
There’s yet to be proof of such censorship actualized under the new law. The long term effects of the notice and removal system—whether it protects victims of online sexual abuse or unconstitutionally censors political discourse—are bound to unfold as platforms and users continue to settle in to the full effect mandate. For now, we may cautiously view this as a win for online autonomy and women’s rights.