{"id":37900,"date":"2025-04-28T23:31:38","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T23:31:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/?p=37900"},"modified":"2025-04-28T23:31:39","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T23:31:39","slug":"public-knowledge-cautions-take-it-down-act-could-jeopardize-privacy-free-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-cautions-take-it-down-act-could-jeopardize-privacy-free-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Knowledge Cautions Take It Down Act Could Jeopardize Privacy, Free Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 409-2 to pass the \u201cTools To Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks (TAKE IT DOWN)\u201d Act to criminalize the distribution of both genuine and synthetic non-consensual intimate imagery as well as require online platforms to create notice-and-takedown systems to facilitate expeditious removal of such content. Public Knowledge welcomes this, and future, congressional action to comprehensively address this serious harm, but remains concerned about the \u201cTAKE IT DOWN\u201d Act\u2019s implementation and its potential adverse effects on privacy and free speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The following can be attributed to Nick Garcia, Senior Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe \u2018TAKE IT DOWN Act\u2019 addresses a real and urgent problem: the distribution of non-consensual intimate imagery, including synthetic and AI-generated content. Abuse conducted through the distribution of this non-consensual intimate imagery is a serious problem online, and it has grown with the explosion of digital replica technologies. This is a problem that haunts people from all walks of life, and we are encouraged that Congress has prioritized protecting people from some of the most harmful uses of digital replicas.<br><br>\u201cThis was a chance to get it right, but unfortunately, Congress only got it half right \u2013 <em>and half-right laws can do real damage<\/em>. We are disappointed that the \u2018TAKE IT DOWN Act\u2019 has passed in its current form, despite containing a few clear and fixable flaws. As written, the bill could be interpreted to undermine encryption, and its takedown system lacks essential safeguards to prevent abuse and censorship. Moreover, the enforcement authority granted to the Federal Trade Commission raises concerns at a time when <a href=\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/competition-and-consumer-protection-need-reinforcements\/\">the agency\u2019s independence and capacity are under direct threat by the Trump administration<\/a>. We sincerely hope that these risks do not materialize \u2013 but if they do, Congress must be ready to act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRecognizing these shortcomings should not diminish the significance of this legislation or the work still ahead. Congress should also pass the \u2018DEFIANCE Act\u2019 to provide victims of non-consensual intimate imagery abuse with meaningful civil remedies in court. And Congress must also recognize that with targeted laws like \u2018TAKE IT DOWN\u2019 and \u2018DEFIANCE\u2019 on the books, sweeping proposals like the \u2018NO FAKES Act\u2019 that create even broader take-down systems are not only unnecessary \u2013 they&#8217;re dangerous. Lawmakers must scrutinize any bill that claims to protect ordinary people but, in practice, empowers major media corporations and Big Tech giants to more easily exploit people\u2019s likenesses, while also threatening our rights to free expression with its dangerously over-broad notice and takedown system.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 409-2 to pass the \u201cTools To Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks (TAKE IT DOWN)\u201d Act to criminalize the distribution of both genuine and synthetic non-consensual intimate imagery as well as require online platforms to create notice-and-takedown systems to facilitate expeditious removal of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-37900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release","tag-copyright-reform"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.5 (Yoast SEO v26.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Public Knowledge Cautions Take It Down Act Could Jeopardize Privacy, Free Speech - Public Knowledge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. 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