New AI deepfake porn bill would require big tech to police and remove images

• A new bill in Congress seeks to hold social media platforms accountable for the publishing and distribution of nonconsensual AI images containing real faces with fake bodies.
• Deepfake porn videos increased 464% in 2023 over the prior year.
• Two dueling bills in the Senate could complicate the legislative process.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are scrambling to address the boom in deepfake AI pornographic images, which have targeted everyone from celebrities to high school students.

Now, a new bill will seek to hold social media companies accountable for policing and removing deepfake porn images published on their sites. The measure would criminalize publishing or threatening to publish deepfake porn.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is the bill's main sponsor. Cruz's office provided CNBC with exclusive details about the bill.

The Take It Down Act would also require social media platform operators to develop a process for removing the images within 48 hours of receiving a valid request from a victim. Additionally, the sites would also have to make a reasonable effort to remove any other copies of the images, including ones shared in private groups.

The task of enforcing these new rules would fall to the Federal Trade Commission, which regulates consumer protection rules.

Cruz's legislation will be formally introduced on Tuesday by a bipartisan group of senators. They will be joined in the Capitol by victims of deepfake porn, including high school students.

The rise of nonconsensual AI generated images have impacted celebrities like Taylor Swift, politicians like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and high school students whose classmates have taken images of their faces and, using apps and AI tools, created nude or