Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
US President Donald Trump on Monday signed the Take It Down Act into law, a measure that imposes penalties for online sexual exploitation. First Lady Melania Trump, who played a key role in pushing the bill through Congress, also signed the document, though her signature was symbolic.
When Melania hesitated, Trump encouraged her: “C’mon, sign it anyway. She deserves to sign it,” he said. He then held up the signed law in the White House Rose Garden, showing both their names.
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Calling the new law a “national victory,” Melania said: “AI 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.”
Trump said the proliferation of images made using AI means that “countless women have been harassed with deepfakes and other explicit images distributed against their will.” He said what’s happening is “just so horribly wrong.”
“Today, we’re making it totally illegal,” Trump said.
What is the Take It Down Act?
The law makes it illegal to “knowingly publish” or threaten to publish intimate images without a person’s consent, including AI-created “deepfakes.” It also requires websites and social media platforms to remove such material within 48 hours of notice from a victim. Platforms must also delete duplicate content. While many states already ban the distribution of sexually explicit deepfakes or revenge porn, the Take It Down Act is a rare example of federal regulation targeting internet companies.
Who supports it?
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The Take It Down Act has received strong bipartisan support and was championed by Melania Trump, who lobbied on Capitol Hill in March, saying it was “heartbreaking” to see what teenagers, especially girls, go through after being victimized by such content.
The act was inspired by Elliston Berry and her mother, who visited his office after Snapchat refused for nearly a year to remove an AI-generated “deepfake” of the then 14-year-old. Meta, which owns and operates Facebook and Instagram, supports the legislation.
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a tech industry-supported think tank, said in a statement following the bill’s passage last month that it “is an important step forward that will help people pursue justice when they are victims of non-consensual intimate imagery, including deepfake images generated using AI.”
What are the censorship concerns?
Free speech advocates and digital rights groups say the bill is too broad and could lead to the censorship of legitimate images including legal pornography and LGBTQ content, as well as government critics.
“While the bill is meant to address a serious problem, good intentions alone are not enough to make good policy,” said the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights advocacy group. “Lawmakers should be strengthening and enforcing existing legal protections for victims, rather than inventing new takedown regimes that are ripe for abuse.”
With inputs from Associated Press
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
