Heinrich Advances Legislation to Combat Nonconsensual, Sexually-Explicit Deepfakes

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), founder and Co-Chair of the Senate Artificial Intelligence Caucus, applauded Senate passage of the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act (DEFIANCE Act), bipartisan legislation that gives survivors of sexually explicit "deepfake" images and videos the tools to fight back and seek justice against those responsible for the proliferation of this content.

The legislation now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration.

"Senate passage of our DEFIANCE Act is a significant step in better protecting children and adults from being sexually exploited in AI-generated deepfakes and seek justice in court. For the sake of the survivors and human dignity, the House must pass this legislation immediately," said Heinrich.

Survivors of sexually explicit "deepfake" images and videos often experience serious mental health and other harms, including worry about the images remaining searchable on the internet years into the future, where they could potentially be found by family, friends, and employers. Creation of nonconsensual sexually-explicit images is often also accompanied by bullying or extortion.

The DEFIANCE Act creates a federal civil remedy, allowing survivors to seek justice in court. The Act also strengthens confidentiality protections for survivors during court proceedings.

The legislation is led by U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Alongside Heinrich, the bill is cosponsored in the Senate by U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Angus King (I-Maine), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Mike Lee (R-Utah). In the U.S. House of Representatives, the legislation is led by U.S. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Laurel Lee (R-Fla.)

In 2024, the Senate unanimously passed the DEFIANCE Act, but House Republicans stalled the bill.

The bill text is available here.

Heinrich also cosponsored and passed into law the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which criminalizes the publication of non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), including AI-generated NCII, and requires social media and similar websites to have in place procedures to remove such content within 48 hours of notice from a victim.

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