Melania Trump-backed bill to ban revenge porn heads to president

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure on Monday to combat revenge porn, including AI-generated deepfakes, sending the bill to the president’s desk.

The TAKE IT DOWN Act passed 409-2, and was championed by First Lady Melania Trump.

“This toxic environment can be severely damaging. We must prioritize [young teens’] well-being by equipping them with the support and tools necessary to navigate this hostile digital landscape,” she said last month. “Every young person deserves a safe online space to express themself freely, without the looming threat of exploitation or harm.”

The U.S. Senate passed the measure unanimously in February.

Since both chambers passed identical versions of the bill, it now heads to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it, the Daily Wire reports.

If enacted, violators of the law could face jail time, a fine, or both for posting intimate visual depictions of others – real or computer-generated – of adults or minors, without consent or with the intent to harm. The measure would also require websites, apps and other online platforms to take offending content down within 48 hours of a victim’s request. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, praised the First Lady for her advocacy. 

“I want to thank First Lady Melania Trump for championing this important legislation that empowers and provides protections to victims of online sexual exploitation,” Johnson said in a statement. “It also criminalizes the publication of nonconsensual intimate images and mandates their removal from online platforms once reported. The First Lady’s leadership has been instrumental in the bill’s passage, and we look forward to seeing this signed into law.” 

Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, and Eric Burlison, R-Missouri, were the only two lawmakers to vote against it. 

Massie claimed the proposal creates a “slippery slope.” 

“Tonight we’re voting on the ‘TAKE IT DOWN Act,’ a bill that would impose federal criminal and civil penalties for publishing unauthorized intimate pictures generated with AI,” he posted on X. “I’m voting NO because I feel this is a slippery slope, ripe for abuse, with unintended consequences.” 

Currently, every state except South Carolina bans revenge porn. However, many of these laws lack protections against AI-generated deepfake porn, since they were passed before such image generation was possible.