The House on Monday night overwhelmingly passed legislation that would make it a federal crime to knowingly post or threaten to publish realistic, computer-generated pornographic images and videos that attempt to show "identifiable" people on social media and elsewhere online.
The Take It Down Act, which passed the House by a 409-2 vote, now heads to President Donald Trump's desk for his signature. The bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., passed the Senate unanimously in February.
Trump indicated in March in his speech in front of a joint session of Congress that he intends to sign the bill.
First lady Melania Trump has also backed the bill, hosting a roundtable discussion last month with lawmakers and those affected by the issue.
"Advancing this legislation has been a key focus since I returned to my role as First Lady this past January," Melania Trump wrote in a post on X. "I am honored to have contributed to guiding it through Congress. By safeguarding children from hurtful online behavior today, we take a vital step in nurturing our leaders of tomorrow. #BeBest."
One of the targets of this practice championed by the first lady was Elliston Berry, who said she was 14 when a boy at her school used artificial intelligence to create deepfake images of her.
"I knew I could never go back and undo what he did, but I wanted to do anything to help prevent this from happening to others," Elliston, now 15, said in a statement issued by the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, which Cruz chairs. She was among Melania Trump's guests for the president's speech in front of Congress.
"With the passage of the Take it Down Act, we can protect future generations from having to experience the pain I went through," she said. "The outpouring of support for this bill has been amazing to see, and I've been truly inspired by how so many of America's leaders and major tech organizations have come together to promote this important cause.
"I am grateful to Sen. Cruz and Sen. Klobuchar for listening to my story and to first lady Melania Trump for helping bring even more attention to our efforts to turn this horrible situation into something good."
Two House Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Eric Burlison of Missouri, voted against the bill, which requires social media and similar websites to remove such content within 48 hours of being notified of the issue.
"Tonight we're voting on the 'TAKE IT DOWN Act,' a bill that would impose federal criminal and civil penalties for publishing unauthorized intimate pictures generated with AI," Massie wrote in a post on X. "I'm voting NO because I feel this is a slippery slope, ripe for abuse, with unintended consequences."
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., wrote in a post on X that the House "took a critical step to combat the growing online publication of real and deepfake nonconsensual intimate images with the passage of the Take It Down Act."
"I want to thank First Lady Melania Trump for championing this important legislation that empowers and provides protections to victims of online sexual exploitation," Johnson wrote. "It also criminalizes the publication of nonconsensual intimate images and mandates their removal from online platforms once reported.
"The First Lady's leadership has been instrumental in the bill's passage, and we look forward to seeing this signed into law."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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