Last week, the TAKE IT DOWN Act—landmark legislation outlawing revenge porn—went into full force. The law makes it a crime to publish sexual images of another person without his or her consent, including AI-generated images. As of last week, the law also requires websites to have processes in place for victims to submit complaints, to remove violating content within 48 hours, and to make reasonable efforts to detect and remove duplicate images.
To most Americans, this probably sounds like a straightforward, reasonable policy. The despicable practice of sharing so-called “revenge porn”—intimate images circulated to others or published without the victim’s consent—has been weaponized to shame and harass people, primarily women, since at least the 1970s. The advent of the Internet created new vectors for perpetrators to anonymously spread and share nonconsensual images. And, most recently, the broad public adoption of generative AI tools meant that anyone could be a victim—even if the images were fake.
Unfortunately but perhaps unsurprisingly, this is exactly what transpired. Recent analyses have found that up to 96 percent of online “deepfakes” are nonconsensual, and up to 99 percent of sexual deepfakes depict women. Minors—both young girls and boys—have been increasingly victimized, forced to cope with the myriad consequences of sexual cybercrimes they did not commit. In some cases, the children targeted have tragically taken their own lives.
Legislative Headwinds
Federal bills regulating technology have been notoriously difficult to pass. The last major law regulating the Internet—the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act—passed Congress in 2018 only after a bruising legislative and public affairs battle. The difficulty of securing passage is also a byproduct of the overarching dynamics of modern legislating: With limited floor time available for votes, backlogs of must-pass reauthorizations, and partisan reconciliation fights dominating the congressional calendar, in recent years fewer than 2 percent of bills introduced have made it to the President’s desk.
Despite these headwinds, the TAKE IT DOWN Act was signed into law less than one year after its introduction in June 2024, garnering only two “nay” votes across both chambers of Congress. The legislation’s swift passage is also noteworthy because the bill regulated in policy areas typically viewed as more controversial, including creating new federal crimes, grappling with the contours of free speech issues, and imposing new regulatory requirements on the Internet economy. To date, the TAKE IT DOWN Act is the only standalone federal AI regulatory bill to have been signed into law.
The Tipping Point
Why did the TAKE IT DOWN Act succeed where other equally commendable proposals failed? It always takes a bit of magic and a lot of sweat to shepherd legislation successfully through Congress—and indeed, we had both of those ingredients in spades. But there were several other factors, both procedural and political, that helped set up the bill for success.
Below are six factors I’ve identified that were crucial to the bill’s rapid passage, based on my experience at the Senate Commerce Committee as a staffer working on the legislation:
Identify strong champions. It may sound obvious, but no legislation passes by accident. The time and effort that any one member of Congress can devote to an issue is limited, and securing passage requires sustained energy applied over a long period of time. To pass the TAKE IT DOWN Act, then-Ranking Member Ted Cruz—who held significant power to set the agenda on the Senate Commerce Committee—teamed up with Senator Amy Klobuchar, a member of the Commerce Committee with a long track record of working on victims’ rights legislation.
Timing is everything. If you’re attempting to pass a standalone bill on a significant issue, it is important to meet the moment. As I mentioned earlier, image-based sexual abuse has been perpetrated in the United States for half a century, and countless victims still struggle to have their images removed from dark web pages dedicated explicitly to hosting revenge porn. But in 2023, with the explosion of readily accessible generative AI, sexual deepfakes suddenly became a kitchen table issue across the country. Brave victims like Elliston Berry of Texas and Francesca Mani of New Jersey started sharing their stories publicly—sparking a national outrage to address this now-criminal practice.
Grassroots is your secret weapon. It is a cliché, but true, to say that all politics is local. As our staff started speaking to constituents affected by deepfakes across the country, we realized this was a growing, nationwide problem. We built an internal tracker to log all mentions in local news outlets of people who had been affected and schools that were struggling to reckon with the issue as it infected classrooms. This helped us identify potential bill supporters in Congress, pitch local editorial boards, and work with victims and their families who wished to engage in advocacy. It also helped us structure the bill in a manner that was directly responsive to the issues on the ground.
Draft intentionally and inclusively. It is often insufficient to pinpoint a problem and propose a legislative solution; you also need to persuade others why your solution is best. The TAKE IT DOWN Act was drafted on a bipartisan basis and incorporated feedback from a broad range of stakeholders, including individuals, advocacy groups, and technology companies. Where possible, we drew inspiration and definitions from existing law—such as the notice and takedown process that already exists for IP-infringing content under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Successful legislation often benefits from a thoughtful drafting process during which edge cases have been tested, relevant case law has been reviewed, and well-understood legal concepts have been incorporated. You don’t need to solve every problem in the world at once: Focus on what can realistically pass to make a difference in the present.
Bipartisan and bicameral are non-negotiables. Ignore the other party or the other chamber at your own peril. Legislation introduced with solely Republican or Democratic sponsors will struggle to shake off the branding—however meritless—that it is a “partisan” bill. Likewise, without steady champions on the other side of the Capitol, chances of passage diminish.
Make some magic. Ultimately, the TAKE IT DOWN Act caught like wildfire not because it was carefully drafted or referred to the right committees of jurisdiction. There was an “X” factor—a combination of relentless championship by the bills’ sponsors, grassroots activism, and extensive national media coverage. When First Lady Melania Trump threw her support behind the bill, it catalyzed the legislation’s passage and shone an even brighter spotlight on the need for Congress to step up and protect victims.
Flipping the Script
For decades, perpetrators of intimate image abuse have weaponized the shame of their victims to evade consequences. Victims rightfully worry that the images depicting them—whether real or fake—could live online and spread in perpetuity, negatively impacting their reputations or job opportunities for the rest of their lives. But the burden of shame should be squarely allocated to those guilty of this heinous act.
Since President Trump signed the TAKE IT DOWN Act into law in May 2025, the Department of Justice secured its first conviction, and more are on the way. The Federal Trade Commission also recently announced TakeItDown.ftc.gov as the agency begins its congressionally mandated effort to ensure that victims can have their images removed expeditiously, thereby reducing the likelihood of future harm.
It is often said that victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan. But it is also true that no great feat was ever achieved alone—it did, in fact, take thousands of people to eventually pass the TAKE IT DOWN Act. The right mix of people, in the right place, at the right time, after half a century of injustice, finally changed the law for good.