S 146
TAKE IT DOWN Act
TL;DR
Senator Ted Cruz's TAKE IT DOWN Act, now federal law, criminalizes publishing non-consensual intimate images including AI-generated deepfakes and requires online platforms to remove such content within 48 hours of a victim's request. Any website, app, or social platform that hosts user-generated content must build a takedown process or face FTC enforcement.
How This Might Impact Your Business
Social media platforms, image hosts, dating apps, and any site with user-generated content must establish a notice-and-removal system for non-consensual intimate imagery (including AI deepfakes) within one year of enactment.
Covered platforms must remove flagged content within 48 hours of a valid victim request and make reasonable efforts to remove identical copies.
Publishing AI-generated deepfake intimate images of real people without consent is now a federal crime, with penalties up to 2 years in prison for adult victims and 3 years for minors.
FTC treats non-compliance with the takedown process as an unfair or deceptive trade practice, opening the door to federal enforcement actions and fines.
Generative AI companies producing image or video tools face heightened reputational and legal exposure if their products are used to create illegal deepfakes.
Narrow exemptions exist for good-faith disclosures to law enforcement, medical treatment, and legitimate reporting; broadband ISPs and email providers are generally not covered.
Trust and safety, legal, and engineering teams at platforms must budget for new intake, verification, and removal workflows before the compliance deadline.
What Should You Do
Ask your legal and trust-and-safety teams whether your platform qualifies as a 'covered platform' and, if so, begin building the 48-hour takedown workflow now (compliance deadline is one year from enactment, May 2026).
If you sell or deploy generative image/video AI, review your content policies, watermarking, and user terms to reduce the risk your tools produce illegal non-consensual deepfakes.
Train customer support and content moderation staff on how to receive, verify, and act on victim removal requests, including identity verification standards.
Document your takedown process in writing to demonstrate good-faith compliance if the FTC investigates.
Coordinate with communications and HR on internal policies covering employee misuse of AI image tools, which could now trigger criminal liability.
Who It Affects
Sponsors
Status Timeline
enacted
Became Public Law No: 119-12.
May 19, 2025