Senator Cruz Champions TAKE IT DOWN Act

Last week, the Senate unanimously passed the TAKE IT DOWN Act. The bipartisan legislation addresses numerous concerns regarding non-consensual intimate image abuse (NCII), otherwise known as “revenge pornography.” During an appearance on the Ingraham Angle, Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R) appeared with one of the victims of “deepfake porn,” and the senator ensured that the bill would remove “AI deepfakes” from the internet.

After the bill was passed, Senator Cruz took to social media to share a video where he informed two victims of deepfakes that the bill had passed in the senate. One of those victims is Elliston Berry, a 15 year old girl from Aledo, Texas, who faced a harmful and traumatic event involving an AI deepfake after a picture was circulated around her school.

Championing her bravery in coming forward and testifying in front of hearing committees, Senator Cruz warned that "this is happening all over the country." The Texas Republican noted that "we are seeing up to 95% of the deepfakes online are non-consensual intimate imagery," adding that the images are being altered so that they "are taking real people and making them appear like they're naked pictures or naked videos."

With his legislation, which he spearheaded with Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar (D), it "makes it a crime, it makes it a felony to do this to a real person, to target and objectify and abuse a real person."

"A great many of the victims are teenage girls or women," he informed, adding that the legislation also pressures tech-companies into doing their part to make sure that such AI deepfake pictures or videos are removed from their platforms.

The bill "puts a legal obligation on the tech-platforms to take this garbage down," Senator Cruz commented.

The tech-companies must respond within 48 hours of being notified by the victim.