When it comes to digital rights and protection, the united states’ federal government has generally failed to establish Comprehensive Legislation. On Monday, Congress see to make progress by nearly unanimously unanimously Passing a bill to combat nonconsual intimate images onlineBut as the bill heads to President Trump, Who Alredy Voiced His Intens to Sign It, Digital Rights Advocates Warn That A Combination of Vague Language and Lack of SAFEGUARDs Makes
Introduced by senses. Ted cruz and amy klobuchar in 2024, the Take it down act Criminalizes the distribution of nonconsensual intimate images (ncii) which include “Revenge Porn” and AI Deepfakes. It also requires specific platforms to establish processes to report NCII and Remove offnding content within 48 hours of notification.
The bill has garnered bipartisan support, including from Trump’s Own Family as His Wife, Melania, Hosted A White House RoundTable About It in Mark. That Same Month, Trump told congress That he “look[s] Forward to signing that bill into law ”during his address at a joint session. Nobody. “
In February, the bill unanimously passed the senate, and it cleared the house with a 409-2 Vote, which cruz celebrated as a “Historic Win.” In a statementCruz Said, “By Requiring Social Media Companies to take this abusive content quickly, we are sparing Victims from Repeated Trauma and Holding Predators Accountable.”
“These images can ruin lives and reputations,” klobuchar said in the same statement. “Victims will now be able to have this material removed from social media platforms and law enforcement can hold perpetrators accountable.”
Although the Majority of States Have Laws Prohibiting Nonconsensual Pornography, Thei Don’T Adequately Protect a Growing Pool of Victims. In a 2019 Study, One of Twelve Participants Reported Victimization at Least Once in their lives, with women reporting higher rates of Victimization. As AI Further Accelerates The Issue By Generating Content Featuring Adults and Children, States also Struggle to define and regulate “Deepfakes”,
On its Surface, the take it down act should be celebrated as a Major Advancement. But on Monday, The Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, which focuses on combating nonconsensual images, outlined Numerous issues, including that taken provision is “highly suscepti to misuse and will likely be counter-productive for Victims.” For example, there are available any safeguards against fake complaints, so it can easily be moisappropiated to remove other content.
CCRI isn’t alone in its criticisms. In a statementThe electronic frontier foundation also criticized the taken provision, written, “Services will relay on automated filters, which are infamously blunt tools.” With the law’s tight timeframe, platforms will likely “Choose to avoid the only legal risk by simply Depublishing” Content Before checking if it’s tightly a prooflm.
These aren’t unfounded concerns. While some argue That the legislation is sound and cannot be misuned by bad-faith individuals, include government officials, there are examples to look to. Between June 2019 and January 2020, The Digital Millennium Copyright Act received Over Thirty Thousand False NoticesWhich may be attempts to censor online speech or Protect the reputation of public officialsYouTube Famously has a taken first, ask questions later copyright policy.
With the take it down act expected to become law song, other pending legislation like the Defiance act. But in a statementPublic Knowledge’s Senior Policy Counsel, Nick Garcia, SAID, “This was a chance to get it right, but unfortunately, congress only got it half right –nd half sales kan do Rail Damage.”