Congress, states crack down on AI sexual deepfakes
Congress and various U.S. states are accelerating efforts to regulate and criminalize non-consensual, AI-generated sexual deepfakes. A standout piece of legislation, the Take It Down Act—officially the Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act—was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and became law on May 19, 2025. This milestone law criminalizes the distribution of non-consensual intimate imagery (including AI deepfakes) and mandates that platforms remove such content within 48 hours of a victim’s request.
At the same time, several states are advancing their own legislation on AI sexual deepfakes. For example, Minnesota is considering bills to penalize “nudify” apps that generate explicit AI images without consent—proposing civil fines of up to $500,000 per violation. Other states are following suit, introducing measures to curb non-consensual AI-generated imagery at both criminal and civil levels.
These moves illustrate a coordinated effort: Congress is setting a federal standard with strong enforcement mechanisms, while states are filling gaps and testing additional approaches to protect individuals’ privacy and dignity in the digital age.
