Been seeing a lot of stuff about the Take It Down Act, can you explain what it is?
Hi there, and welcome back to another week of Ask Trish! I hope you’re all well and having a wonderful start to March. For those folks in the US, I hope you’re starting to see some early signs of Spring…which is (thankfully) right around the corner!
Thank you so much to this week’s question-er for the fantastic question. Indeed, over the last week, we’ve seen a major development in US internet safety legislation: lawmakers–from both parties–are increasingly discussing and expressing their commitment to passing the TAKE IT DOWN Act, federal legislation that aims to protect young people–especially young women–in the age of AI and the internet. This is a really big moment, because (i) nowadays, lawmakers don’t tend to agree on much, (ii) last year, there was a big battle over introducing another piece of internet safety legislation, the Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, in the House of Representatives, and (iii) this is one of Congress’s first big legislative moves to respond to an evolving digital world. With all of that said, it’s definitely worth taking the time to dig into TAKE IT DOWN: what the Act says it will do and why it’s garnered so much support.
Sound like a plan? Let’s get into it:
First and foremost: what is the TAKE IT DOWN Act? The TAKE IT DOWN Act is a bipartisan piece of federal legislation that aims to curb the spread of non-consensual intimate imagery–whether real, or AI-generated–on social media and other digital platforms. The Act would require tech companies in the US to remove child sex abuse material, otherwise known as CSAM, and non-consensual intimate images within 48 hours of notification by a victim. Crucially, the criminalization extends to explicit AI-generated imagery–which has increasingly become a serious issue for teens and young adults in the US. Indeed, according to EdWeek, in response to a national survey conducted by Thorn, a child safety advocacy organization, “one in 8 young people aged 13 to 20—and 1 in 10 teenagers aged 13 to 17—said they ‘personally know someone’ who has been the target of deepfake nude imagery, and 1 in 17 have been targets themselves.” So, what would happen if someone did post a non-consensual intimate image? Well, per the bill, they could face penalties and jail time. And it’s not just the poster that can be held accountable; the bill also authorizes the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to sue tech platforms for not adequately complying with the bill’s requirements. The idea is that this will encourage compliance and ensure accountability.
Okay–now we have a sense of what the bill says. But why has it suddenly become so popular? Well, it’s helpful to take a step back and consider how we got here. As some of you may remember, the national–and global–dialogue around nonconsensual, AI-generated deepfakes ballooned last year after celebrities like Taylor Swift and Scarlet Johnasson found themselves the victims of explicit deepfake attacks. Ms. Johnasson, for instance, found that her face had been “grafted” into “dozens of graphic sex scenes by anonymous online ‘creators,’ who [used] free artificial-intelligence software to create convincingly lifelike videos.” For many folks, these incidents were their first look at this horrifying, unacceptable problem…and what they saw generated a sense of urgency in locating and implementing technical and policy solutions to prevent and mitigate such harms. It’s perhaps unsurprising, then, that TAKE IT DOWN is a bipartisan effort, sponsored by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), among others.
More recently, though, the legislation catapulted into the spotlight after the First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump, endorsed the legislation and called on lawmakers to pass it. Said Mrs. Trump at a roundtable with NCII survivors: “Every young person deserves a safe online space to express themself freely, without the looming threat of exploitation or harm.” The next day, President Trump announced in an address to Congress that he too, supported TAKE IT DOWN, and called on Congress to pass it. Importantly, House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated that he wholeheartedly supported the legislation and would do everything he could to help to advance it. All of this means that the TAKE IT DOWN Act is poised for passage. Whether it’ll happen, of course, remains to be seen.
It is important to note: there are plenty of individuals and organizations that strongly oppose passage of the TAKE IT DOWN Act, over concerns that it will stifle free speech and lead to internet censorship. For instance, after President Trump’s address, the Electronic Frontier Foundation noted that he said, “I’m going to use that bill for myself too if you don’t mind, because nobody gets treated worse than I do online, nobody.” This, dissenters say, is evidence of the legislation’s real purpose, which is to minimize expression, particularly expression that challenges authority figures and the powers-that-be. Online platform The Verge agrees, noting in a recent piece, “Parts of the Take It Down Act are more likely to become a sword for a corrupt presidential administration than a shield to protect NCII victims — and supporters of both civil liberties and Big Tech accountability should recognize it.”
I hope that this overview was helpful. There’s definitely much more to come for TAKE IT DOWN–and as things progress, I’ll be sure to keep you updated. In the meantime, if you have additional questions about this topic, you can (i) use this post as a launching pad for further research–always a great idea! and/or (ii) share your questions and thoughts with me here. And if you have a question that isn’t about internet safety legislation, that’s welcome, too! I’m truly down to explore whatever is on your mind, so please feel free to ask away. I can’t wait to read more about what’s on your mind!
Have a great week, everyone,
Trish