Trump Signs ‘Take It Down Act’ Into Law, Criminalizing Non-Consensual Intimate Images
United States President Donald Trump has signed into law the Take It Down Act, landmark legislation that criminalizes the sharing of non-consensual intimate images, including those generated using artificial intelligence, as per Al Jazeera.
The law, which passed Congress earlier this year with overwhelming bipartisan support, makes it a federal offense to distribute sexually explicit images of a person without their consent. The measure also mandates that social media platforms remove such content within 48 hours of a takedown request from victims.
Speaking at the signing ceremony at the White House on Monday, President Trump called the act a necessary response to the growing abuse of AI image technology.
“With the rise of AI image generation, countless women have been harassed with deepfakes and other explicit images distributed against their will,” Trump said. “This is wrong—just so horribly wrong. And today we’re making it totally illegal.”
The law targets both authentic and digitally fabricated intimate images, such as “deepfakes,” which use AI to superimpose someone’s likeness onto another image or video. Violators could face serious legal consequences under the new statute.
First Lady Melania Trump, who has publicly championed the legislation since her husband’s return to office, said the new law offers critical protections for individuals—especially youth—whose images may be exploited.
“This 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 said.
