Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) reintroduced a bill Wednesday that would give those depicted in nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfakes the power to take civil action against those who make or distribute the imagery.
Ocasio-Cortez co-led the reintroduction of the bill with Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.) in the House and Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in the upper chamber. The bill is backed by another five senators and nine House members.
The legislation, titled the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits (DEFIANCE) Act, would give survivors and victims of nonconsensual deepfake pornography the “legal right to pursue justice,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement.
Should the bill pass, civil actions will be able to be pursued against the individuals who create, distribute or possess with the intent to spread these deepfakes.
“Although the imagery may be fake, the harm to the victims is very real,” Durbin said in a statement Wednesday. “Victims have lost their jobs, their reputations, and many have suffered from life-altering depression or anxiety.”
It comes on the heels of President Trump’s signing of the Take It Down Act on Monday, which criminalizes the publication of nonconsensual deepfake imagery. The Take It Down Act further requires websites to take down the content without 48 hours and make “reasonable efforts” to remove duplicate images.
The DEFIANCE Act aims to build upon the progress of the Take it Down Act by focusing on civil resources to “complement” one another, Lee said.
“Together, they both create both accountability and recourse,” Lee said.
The bill unanimously passed the Senate last year but did not reach the House floor for a vote.
