Take It Down Act

The Take It Down Act is a U.S. federal law signed on May 19, 2025, that targets the non-consensual publication of intimate images, including AI-generated "digital forgeries" (deepfakes). Co-sponsored by Senators Ted Cruz and Amy Klobuchar, it passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support. The law makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) of identifiable individuals, with harsher penalties when the depicted person is a minor, and it requires covered online platforms to establish a notice-and-removal process and to take down reported NCII (and copies) within 48 hours of a valid request. Enforcement of the platform requirements falls to the Federal Trade Commission.

For Reddit and similar user-generated-content platforms, the Take It Down Act imposes concrete compliance obligations: platforms had roughly one year from passage to build reporting and removal systems, with enforcement against services beginning May 19, 2026. Supporters frame it as a long-overdue federal tool for victims of revenge porn and AI-generated sexual imagery, while some civil-liberties and security experts have raised concerns about potential over-removal of lawful content and the practicality of the 48-hour mandate. The law sits alongside Reddit's existing prohibitions on non-consensual intimate media.