Ettech Explorer: Woman at his side, Trump does a crime to share explicit pictures with take it down act

The US President Donald Trump signed the law on the Take IT Down into the law on Monday during a ceremony in the Rosengarten of the White House, together with First Lady Melania Trump. The law makes it a federal crime to share intimate or explicit images of a person without their consent, whether real or with artificial intelligence.

“With the rise of AI images, countless women with Deepfakes and other explicit images that are distributed against their will were harassed,” said Trump, when he signed the legislation, according to AFP. “And today we do it illegally … Anyone who deliberately distributes explicit pictures without the consent of the topic will have up to three years in prison.”

First Lady's campaign for online security

After signing the law, Melania Trump handed it over for a symbolic signature and recognized her role in the consent for legislation. The First Lady named the law as a “national victory” and said that it would help parents and families to protect children from online exploitation.

“It is heartbreaking to observe young teenagers, especially girls who deal with the overwhelming challenges of malicious online content such as Deepfkes. This toxic environment can be difficult to harm,” she said during the introduction of Bill in March.

The First Lady also warned of the influence of digital tools on children and described artificial intelligence and social media “digital sweets for the next generation – sweet, addicted and constructed in order to affect the cognitive development of our children”.

What the law covers

The Take IT Down Act makes it illegal to knowingly share intimate images without consent online, including content that is generated with AI tools. The law also states that the consent to create such images does not mean a permit to share it. Websites and social media platforms must remove the content and duplicates within 48 hours of requesting a victim.

The bill was introduced in 2024 by Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, and Senator Amy Klobuchar, a democrat from Minnesota. In April it went in the house with an overwhelming cross-party support with a vote of 409-2.

Tech support

Technology companies such as META, TikTok and Snapchat have publicly supported the law. However, some groups for digital rights have expressed concerns about the potential for the agreement with legal content and abuse by false takedown claims.

Legislation is a reaction to a wave of top-class cases in which explicit pictures of celebrities and teenagers with A-generated pictures are involved. It is the first federal law that blames the protection of adults from such abuse and platforms for harmful content.