Spanberger Backs Bipartisan, Bicameral Effort to Protect Victims & Criminalize Publication of Revenge Porn

The “TAKE IT DOWN Act” Would Criminalize the Publication of & Threat to Publish Non-Consensual Intimate Images, Including Computer-Generated Images

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger backed bipartisan, bicameral legislation to protect victims of non-consensual intimate image abuse — also known as revenge pornography.

In 2021, Spanberger voted to pass legislation — which President Biden signed into law — to create a civil cause of action for victims to sue individuals responsible for publishing revenge porn. However, there remains no federal criminal offense specifically aimed at the distribution of non-consensual pornography. At the state level, Virginia criminalized the dissemination of revenge pornography in 2014 — and in 2019, the Commonwealth amended this law to include deepfake non-consensual intimate images.

The Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks (TAKE IT DOWN) Act would criminalize the publication of non-consensual intimate images, including deepfake and digitally altered images, at the federal level. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation would also require social media and similar websites to have in place procedures to remove such content within 48 hours of receiving notification from a victim.

“As artificial intelligence continues to be developed and become more common in daily life, we are seeing a disturbing rise in the use of these technologies to create exploitative, non-consensual images and videos. Congress must criminalize revenge pornography — and any effort to do so must also include mechanisms to remove deepfake pornography from the web and provide victims with sufficient legal recourse,” said Spanberger. “I’m backing this bipartisan, bicameral legislation because I believe that Congress must follow Virginia’s lead to protect women, children, and all Americans from becoming victims and prosecute those who commit what should be considered a federal crime.”

Specifically, the TAKE IT DOWN Act would protect victims of real and deepfake non-consensual intimate image abuse. The bipartisan, bicameral legislation:

• Criminalizes the publication of such images or the threat to publish revenge pornography in interstate commerce by:

• Imposing a penalty of up to two years in prison for instances involving an adult and up to three years for instances involving a minor, plus a fine.

• Deeming all proceeds made from the material subject to forfeiture.

• Protects efforts to assist victims by permitting the good faith disclosure of such images, such as to law enforcement, in narrow cases.

• Requires websites to take down such images within 48 hours of receiving notice from the victim.

The TAKE IT DOWN Act is supported by several anti-exploitation advocacy, child protection, and law enforcement organizations — including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, National Center on Sexual Exploitation, Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network (RAINN), SAG-AFTRA, Public Citizen, American Psychological Association, American College of Pediatricians, National Association of Chiefs of Police, and National Association of Police Organizations.

The bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act is led in the U.S. House by Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27), Madeleine Dean (D-PA-04), August Pfluger (R-TX-11), Stacey Plaskett (D-VI-AL), Vern Buchanan (R-FL-16), and Debbie Dingell (D-MI-04). The legislation is led in the U.S. Senate by U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Ted Budd (R-NC), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Todd Young (R-IN), Joe Manchin (I-WV), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Barrasso (R-WY), John Thune (R-SD), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).

Click here for the bill text.

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