By India McCarty
President Donald Trump signed The TAKE IT DOWN Act into law.
“Signing the TAKE IT DOWN Act into law is an historic moment for survivors of image-based sexual abuse: There’s finally a path for this abuse to be quickly removed from digital platforms,” Dr. Marcel van der Watt, President of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, said in a press release.
He remarked that the legislation “passed unusually fast,” thanks to “bipartisan support in Congress and First Lady Melania Trump’s championship.”
“Image-based sexual abuse is a horrific assault on a person, and that abuse becomes magnified on digital platforms,” van der Watt continued. “No one should have to endure sexual abuse through the creation of deepfake pornography or non-consensually-shared sexually explicit imagery. The TAKE IT DOWN Act will combat this abhorrent abuse, and we commend President Trump for signing this into law.’
The TAKE IT DOWN Act criminalizes the uploading of image-based sexual abuse (IBSA), whether real or AI-generated. It also mandates that social media platforms must remove content found to be IBSA within 48 hours.
The First Lady has long been a champion of this legislation. In a statement celebrating its signing into law, she called it a “national victory that will help parents and families protect children from online exploitation.”
“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,” the First Lady continued.
My legislation, the TAKE IT DOWN Act, was the product of countless hours of work from advocates, survivors, lawmakers, and others.
Yesterday, it became the law of the land.
This is a historic victory for the dignity and safety of Americans on the internet. pic.twitter.com/bUpdJNXbCH
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) May 20, 2025
Related: Bill Criminalizing Deepfake Pornography Heads to President’s Desk
Senators Ted Cruz and Amy Klobuchar, who introduced the TAKE IT DOWN Act, also shared statements celebrating that it had been signed into law.
“Passing the TAKE IT DOWN Act into law is a major victory for victims of online abuse,” Sen. Klobuchar said, calling it “a landmark move towards establishing common-sense rules of the road around social media and AI.”
She also thanked “the victims, advocates, and law enforcement officials who have banded together to work with Senator Cruz and me to pass this legislation,” as well as the First Lady for her support.
“The TAKE IT DOWN ACT is an historic win for victims of revenge porn and deepfake image abuse,” Sen. Cruz said in his statement. “Predators who weaponize new technology to post this exploitative filth will now rightfully face criminal consequences, and Big Tech will no longer be allowed to turn a blind eye to the spread of this vile material.”
He continued, “I am deeply grateful to my legislative partners, particularly Sen. Amy Klobuchar and First Lady Melania Trump, for their collaboration in advancing this critical legislation to protect every American’s privacy and dignity online.”
The passage of the TAKE IT DOWN Act is a landmark move in the ongoing fight against IBSA online, as well as a major show of support to victims of this abuse.
Read Next: Melania Trump Lobbies for Bill to Ban Revenge Porn and AI Deepfakes
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