What to Know about the Take It Down Act

Legislation Breakdowns
Written By Makehers Admin

March 7, 2025 | by Priya Elangovan

UPDATE MAY 20, 2025

The bill was signed into law by President Trump on May 19, 2025 and will now go into effect. This guide from our friends at the 19th* explains how you can use the new law and request NCII to be taken down from digital platforms.

UPDATE APRIL 29, 2025

Today, the House passed the bill 409-2, following its unanimous passage in the Senate in February. President Trump plans to sign the bill into law. This will now allow the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) to enforce online platforms that host user-generated content to remove non-consensual intimate images (NCII), both real and AI-generated, upon request from the person in the photos within 48 hours, and make it a federal crime to post these images.

All platforms the law applies to (including all social media sites) are required to have a clear and easily accessible process for reporting NCII. They will also be required to locate any duplicates of the content that is requested to be taken down.

Additional Support and Resources

If you need assistance with the takedown process or require further support:

Important Considerations

  • Preserve Evidence: Before submitting a takedown request, save copies or screenshots of the NCII content as evidence.​

  • Platform Compliance: While platforms are legally required to comply with takedown requests under the TAKE IT DOWN Act, enforcement is overseen by the FTC. If a platform fails to act, you can report it to the FTC for further action.

Original post:

Mentioned by President Trump during his Address to the Joint Session of Congress this week, The Take it Down Act is a bi-partisan bill that aims to protect victims of Non-consenual Initimate Imagery (NCII) which includes deepfakes, revenge porn, and other harmful attacks online, many targetted towards women. Many advocacy organizations and businesses support the bill, but some technology advocacy and rights organizations oppose it, fearing it could be used to curb other forms of online speech. However, the text of the bill emphasizes that it applies to unprotected speech, so in theory, journalism and other First Amendment-protected speech should be safe.

What it does:

  • “The TAKE IT DOWN Act protects victims of real and deepfake ‘revenge pornography’ by criminalizing the publication of these harmful images, in addition to requiring websites to remove them quickly. The rising popularity of AI requires decisive federal legal protections that will empower victims of these heinous crimes, most of whom are women and girls.”

  • “While nearly all states have laws protecting their citizens from revenge porn, only 20 have explicit laws covering deepfake non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII)”

  • “The TAKE IT Down Act addresses these issues while protecting lawful speech by:

  • Criminalizing the publication of NCII or the threat to publish NCII in interstate commerce;

  • Protecting good faith efforts to assist victims by permitting the good faith disclosure of NCII for law enforcement or medical treatment;

  • Requiring websites to take down NCII upon notice from the victims within 48 hours; and

Requiring that computer-generated NCII meet a ‘reasonable person’ test for appearing to realistically depict an individual, so as to conform to current First Amendment jurisprudence.”

Current Status:

  • Introduced into Senate 6/18/24 as the “Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act” (TAKE IT DOWN Act), sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)

  • Passed the Senate in February, reintroduced into House 1/22/25 by Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL)

How can you take action?:

  • Call or email your House representative, expressing your views on the bill and how you want them to vote. Your representative and their contact information are here.

  • Personal stories are more effective in swaying representatives. If you or someone you know has experienced digital sexual harassment, consider sharing your story using this guide from AIT.

  • Be sure you can recognize the signs of deepfakes online using this and this training.

  • Want to do more advocacy work related to sextortion, digital sexual harassment, or revenge pornography? Here is our general guide on getting started with advocacy.

Similar Crimes and Laws:

  • Sextortion is the act of threatening to share explicit images of someone in exchange for something, like money or sexual acts. It is not mentioned as a federal crime, “but is usually charged under cyberstalking statutes. Cyberstalking is when someone uses electronic communications to cause someone emotional distress intentionally or to place someone in fear of serious bodily harm or death.” (https://www.garfinkelcriminallaw.com/chicagocriminalblog/is-sextortion-a-federal-crime)

  • Revenge Pornography is “the distribution of sexual or pornographic images of individuals without their consent”. Under the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022, individuals may “file a federal lawsuit against a person who disclosed intimate images without the individual’s consent”. However, “websites and service providers have no legal obligation to remove nonconsensual pornography unless it otherwise violates copyright or federal criminal laws”

  • (https://ballotpedia.org/Nonconsensual_pornography_(revenge_porn)_laws_in_the_United_States)

Related:

Sources:

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