First Lady Melania Trump says Take It Down Act is a 'powerful step forward' against online exploitation

On Monday, President Donald Trump signed the Take It Down Act into law, which cracks down on the posting of nonconsensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated images. Speaking ahead of the signing, First Lady Melania Trump, who had spearheaded the effort to get the bill passed into law, called it a "powerful step forward."

Speaking with reporters, the First Lady said that the signing was a "national victory" that will "help parents and families protect children from online exploitation."

"This legislation is a powerful step forward in our efforts to ensure that every American, especially young people, can feel better protected from their image or identity being abused through nonconsensual intimate imagery, or NCII."

"Artificial intelligence and social media are the digital candy for the next generation. Sweet, addictive, and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children. But unlike sugar, these new technologies can be weaponized, shape beliefs, and sadly, affect emotions and even be deadly."

Melania Trump said that she has met with survivors, families, and advocates over the past few months "who know firsthand the emotional and psychological toll of NCII and deepfake abuse."

President Trump added the bill would be the "first-ever law to combat the distribution" of explicit imagery posted onlinethat are "posted without subjects’ consent."

"With the rise of AI image generation, countless women have been harassed with deepfakes and other explicit images distributed against their will. It’s just so horribly wrong."

The Take It Down Act, which stands for the "‘Tools to Address 3 Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological 4 Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act," requires that social media platforms remove nonconsensual intimate imagery no more than 48 hours after receiving a takedown request. Those found to be posting such imagery can face fines and prison time.