Regulating Online Content: An Examination of the Take It Down Act's Impact on Platform Responsibility
The U.S. has taken a significant step forward in protecting individuals from the spread of non-consensual intimate images and AI-generated deepfakes with the passing of the Take It Down Act in 2025. This new federal law criminalizes the knowing sharing or threatening to share such content, including deepfakes depicting real people in intimate contexts without their consent.
The Take It Down Act defines consent as affirmative, conscious, voluntary, and free from force, fraud, duress, misrepresentation, or coercion. It covers both authentic non-consensual intimate images and "digital forgeries" - intimate visual depictions created or altered by AI or other technologies that appear indistinguishable from real images of identifiable individuals.
Harsh penalties, including fines and imprisonment, are imposed on individuals who post such unauthorized content. Online platforms and services that host user-generated content are required to comply with new content moderation and takedown requirements to remove such images promptly upon notice.
The law aims to prevent the exploitation and misuse of personal images at a time when AI technology facilitates easier creation of fake intimate content. More than 30 states have already passed laws targeting synthetic media, especially deepfakes used in political advertising and nonconsensual intimate imagery.
To meet the legal obligations of the Take It Down Act, platforms must create secure takedown systems that verify user consent, implement systems to verify content origins, use AI and content-matching tools to block reposts, train moderation teams on legal and technical standards, and maintain transparent records and audit trails.
The Federal Trade Commission has the authority to issue civil penalties against companies that fail to meet the requirements of the Take It Down Act. New proposals such as the No Fakes Act and Tennessee's ELVIS Act aim to address impersonation, reputational harm, and commercial misuse involving public figures and voice rights in the age of AI.
The Senate's AI working group has recommended using provenance tags and standardized metadata to help users and platforms better distinguish between real and synthetic content. The Federal Trade Commission is drafting new rules aimed at addressing impersonation, personal data misuse, and fraud tied to AI-generated content.
The Take It Down Act was widely supported, passing the Senate without opposition and clearing the House with a vote of 409 to 2. It reflects a growing understanding that voluntary efforts are no longer enough to address technology-driven abuse.
The law makes it a crime to knowingly share or threaten to share private intimate images without consent, and applies to both adults and minors. The story of Elliston Berry, a 14-year-old girl whose AI-generated explicit images were spread online without her knowledge, underscores the importance of this legislation.
As artificial intelligence becomes more common, there is a growing push to verify the authenticity and origin of online content. Proposals to reduce liability protections for platforms that fail to label or detect manipulated media are gaining traction. The goal should be a digital environment where people are respected, protected, and able to control how their image is used as technology continues to evolve. Deepfakes and generative tools can be used for storytelling, art, and entertainment, but they must not be used to harm or exploit individuals.
The Take It Down Act, passed in 2025, criminalizes the sharing of non-consensual intimate images and AI-generated deepfakes, recognizing the potential harm these digital forgeries can cause. To meet the law's requirements, online platforms are obligated to create secure systems that verify user consent, verify content origins, use AI and content-matching tools to block reposts, and maintain transparent records.
In the age of AI, there is a growing push to verify the authenticity and origin of online content, as deepfakes and generative tools can be used to harm or exploit individuals. Proposals to reduce liability protections for platforms that fail to label or detect manipulated media are gaining traction, with the goal of creating a digital environment where people are respected, protected, and able to control how their image is used as technology continues to evolve.
