TAKE IT DOWN Act: The next bipartisan US federal privacy, AI law

On 28 April, the full U.S. House of Representatives passed S. 146, the TAKE IT DOWN Act, a bill that includes both data privacy and AI governance elements. It received resounding bipartisan support and now heads to President Donald Trump's desk after it unanimously passed the Senate in February.

TAKE IT DOWN is a backronym of Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes On Websites and Networks. Though both titles describe goals of the bill — a limited right to removal and a focus on deepfakes respectively — neither captures its full scope.

The bill includes both criminal and civil elements. On the criminal side, it makes it illegal for a person to "knowingly publish" authentic or synthetic nonconsensual intimate images. On the civil side, it requires covered platforms to remove flagged NCII from their platforms within 48 hours of receiving a valid request.

Trump could sign off on the bill quickly with strong congressional support and endorsement from first lady Melania Trump.

Second time's the charm

The House is not the first chamber of Congress to address the harms that NCII poses to adults and minors this congressional term. The Senate unanimously passed the TAKE IT DOWN Act 13 Feb. after it was reintroduced by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, along with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who serves on the committee.

As the Senate version of the bill is identical to that passed by the House, it now moves to the president's desk for final passage. If signed, the takedown requirements for covered platforms will go into effect one year from enactment.

Take it down — or else