WASHINGTON—The Heritage Foundation commends President Donald J. Trump for supporting and signing the Take It Down Act, legislation criminalizing the malicious publishing of real or deepfake intimate images. 

In addition to criminal repercussions for the individual posting the content, social media platforms will be required to remove intimate content posted without consent within 48 hours. The president signed this bill into law after First Lady Melania Trump visited Capitol Hill earlier this year to advocate for the legislation. 

Annie Chestnut Tutor, policy analyst in the Center for Technology and the Human Person at The Heritage Foundation, praised the development:

“The Take It Down Act is a landmark victory for victims—especially children—who have been targeted through real and AI-generated non-consensual intimate imagery online.  

 

“As artificial intelligence advances, so do the threats it poses when weaponized against the innocent. This law delivers critical accountability: it punishes those who publish or threaten to publish such images and compels platforms to remove them. It’s a decisive step toward restoring digital sovereignty, protecting childhood innocence, upholding human dignity, and reining in Big Tech.  

 

“I am grateful to President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Senator Ted Cruz, and Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar for leading this important fight.” 

Paul Larkin, senior legal research fellow in the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation, added:  

“Revenge porn is a despicable practice, one that can haunt a woman for the rest of her days and that has no legitimate Free Speech Clause justification. The permanence of information on the Internet carries a past insult or injury forward, potentially forever, making an original sin into an eternal one. The First Lady deserves kudos for her effort to halt this disturbing phenomenon.”