Deepfake pornography is thriving in the age of artificial intelligence, "and it is wrong," said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who proposed a bill to shut down publication of non-consensual deepfake pornography and intimate images.
The "Take it Down" Act, introduced in June and sponsored by Cruz and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., would criminalize those acts.
"It makes it a crime. It makes it a felony to do what this this boy did to Elliston [Berry]; to take an image of a person and to use AI to create a deepfake to circulate non-consensual intimate images," Cruz said Wednesday on Newsmax's "National Report."
Fake images of Berry, a Dallas resident, were published online when she was 14. She and her mother are now lobbying for change.
"This problem is growing exponentially," Cruz said. "It increased 3,000% last year, 95% of the deepfakes that you have online right now are non-consensual, intimate imagery, typically targeting teenage girls or women. And it is wrong. And we need Congress to act."
The bill passed in the Senate, bringing together "every Democrat and every Republican," said Cruz.
"It's now in the House, and I would encourage the House to take it up and pass it in December," he said. "If they put it on the floor for a vote, it will pass, put it on the president's desk. Let's protect kids. Let's protect women all across the country."
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