'Take it Down Act' to combat online sexual exploitation signed into law

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — President Donald Trump on May 19 signed into law the Take It Down Act, a measure that imposes penalties for online sexual exploitation.

First lady Melania Trump was among the legislation’s advocates, who also included groups that work to end sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

The new law will prohibit the nonconsensual online publication of sexually explicit images and videos — both authentic or generated by artificial intelligence, sometimes called “deepfakes.” It will also impose criminal penalties on those who threaten to publish such material.

Melania Trump, during her first public appearance in March since resuming the role of first lady, went to Capitol Hill to lobby House members to pass the legislation after it was approved by the Senate. At the May 19 signing event, President Trump said she deserved to sign the bill too, directing her to add her signature.

In her own remarks at the event, the first lady called the legislation a “national victory.”

“AI and social media are the digital candy for the next generation, sweet, addictive and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children,” she said. “But unlike sugar, these new technologies can be weaponized, shape beliefs and, sadly, affect emotions and even be deadly.”

The bipartisan, bicameral Take It Down Act, was spearheaded in the Senate by Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. The House’s companion bill was introduced by Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., and Madeleine Dean, D-Pa.

In a May 19 statement, Cruz said, “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.”

Klobuchar said the legislation will provide people “legal protections and tools for when their intimate images, including deepfakes, are shared without their consent, and enabling law enforcement to hold perpetrators accountable.”

The legislation’s supporters included the Alliance to End Human Trafficking — whose members include more than 100 congregations of Catholic women religious — and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.

Marcel van der Watt, president of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, said in a statement the legislation’s enactment marks a “historic moment for survivors of image-based sexual abuse: There’s finally a path for this abuse to be quickly removed from digital platforms.”

“With bipartisan support in Congress and First Lady Melania Trump’s championship, landmark legislation passed unusually fast,” van der Watt said. “Image-based sexual abuse is a horrific assault on a person, and that abuse becomes magnified on digital platforms. 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 U.S. bishops recently released an updated version of their 2015 pastoral letter on the dangers of pornography — defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church as “removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties.” The updated pastoral letter, “Create in Me a Pure Heart: A Pastoral Response to Pornography,” said such material is “gravely wrong,” and “a mortal sin if it is committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent,” adding, “God’s grace and concrete help are always available.”

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