Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Dozens of tech non-profits and advocacy groups are calling on Congress to strike back against image-based sexual abuse online this year, per a letter shared first with Axios.
Why it matters: Generative AI has supercharged the proliferation of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and non-consensual intimate images (NCII) of adults.
- Companies have signed on to voluntary commitments laid out by the White House to combat the abuse but advocates say that's not enough.
State of play: The 27 groups organized by Encode and Americans for Responsible Innovation sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries calling on them to pass the DEFIANCE Act and the TAKE IT DOWN Act.
- The TAKE IT DOWN Act requires tech and social media platforms to take down deepfake pornography of children within 48 hours of being notified by the victim and criminalizes posting such content.
- The DEFIANCE Act creates a federal civil right of action for people who are victims of intimate digital forgeries and more than doubles the statute of limitations to 10 years.
- The Senate has passed both bills.
What they're saying: "Looking back on Congress's inaction on social media, many lawmakers and the public at large regret policymakers' delay in addressing the harms of emerging technology before it impacted our youngest generation," groups wrote in the letter.
- "As AI tools, including deepfake tools, grow in use, the clock is ticking for our elected leaders to protect our children from this emerging technology's worst harms."
- Signatories include Educate and Empower Kids, #HalfTheStory, Lynn's Warriors, and Parents Who Fight.
Our thought bubble: Unlike other bills aimed at protecting kids online, the TAKE IT DOWN Act and the DEFIANCE Act have a better shot at passage because they don't go after tech company behavior or legal shields.
