A law requiring social networks to quickly remove sexual deepfakes and other nonconsensual imagery is now fully in force. But experts warn the policy could do little to help victims — and at worst could facilitate censorship online.
Last May, President Donald Trump signed the Take It Down Act, a law addressing nonconsensual intimate imagery (NCII). The law immediately criminalized distributing NCII, whether in the form of real or AI-generated material, something many states at least partially do already. But its namesake takedown provision is more sweeping. Taking effect a year after the law’s passage — on May 19th of 2026 — it requires online platforms to remove NCII within 48 hours or face fines.
Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson sent letters to over a dozen tech companies ahead of the deadline, a list the FTC said included Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Automattic, Bumble, Discord, Match Group, Meta, Microsoft, Pinterest, Reddit, SmugMug, Snapchat, TikTok and X. It instructed the platforms to offer users an easy takedown request process and remove offending content within 48 hours, as well as any “known identical copies.” The agency, which is tasked with enforcing the law, reminded companies that violating it could result in civil penalties of more than $53,000 per violation.
