The bipartisan ‘TAKE IT DOWN’ Act mandates harsh penalties for revenge porn and deepfake abuse

In a sweeping bipartisan move, Congress has approved the TAKE IT DOWN Act, a landmark bill targeting revenge porn and deepfake abuse, strongly backed by First Lady Melania Trump. The legislation now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for final approval.

More than 400 members of the House voted in favour of the bill, whose full name — Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilising Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks — reflects its broad aim to combat both non-consensual intimate content and its AI-generated counterparts.

“Today’s bipartisan passage of the Take It Down Act is a powerful statement that we stand united in protecting the dignity, privacy, and safety of our children,” Melania Trump said in a statement on Monday. “I am thankful to the Members of Congress — both in the House and Senate — who voted to protect the well-being of our youth.”

Introduced in January by Texas Senator Ted Cruz and approved by the Senate in February, the bill outlines significant penalties for individuals who publish or promote explicit images or videos — real or digitally altered — without the subject’s consent or with the intent to cause harm. Offenders could face prison time, hefty fines, or both.

Crucially, the legislation applies not only to real individuals but also to synthetic content like deepfakes, a growing concern as generative AI tools proliferate.

Public online platforms, including social media sites, websites, and mobile apps, would be required to implement accessible systems allowing victims to request takedowns. Once a request is submitted, platforms must remove the content within 48 hours or face legal consequences.

“It protects young girls and young women, and it’s a huge bipartisan victory that we’re winning tonight,” Senator Cruz told ABC News.

The initiative has become a defining issue for Melania Trump, who has re-emerged as a visible advocate in her husband’s second term. Her earlier campaign, Be Best, launched during President Trump’s first administration, focused on children’s well-being, online safety, and opioid abuse.

That programme included meetings with technology companies to bolster youth protections, advocacy for Native American abuse survivors, and efforts to expand addiction treatment centres.

“Through this critical legislation and our continued focus with Be Best, we are building a future where every child can thrive and achieve their full potential,” the First Lady added on Monday.

While rare bipartisan cooperation in Washington has become elusive, the TAKE IT DOWN Act earned support across the political spectrum, with lawmakers uniting behind the urgency to regulate the digital abuse landscape. With deepfake technology advancing rapidly, advocates say the legislation offers a much-needed update to privacy and exploitation laws that haven’t kept pace with technology.

The bill’s timing is also politically potent, coming amid broader scrutiny of online harms and big tech’s role in managing user-generated content. Victims’ rights groups, civil liberties advocates, and cybersecurity experts have applauded the bill as a major step forward in digital accountability and survivor protection.

President Trump is expected to sign the bill into law within days, marking one of the more widely supported legislative actions in his second term.