Earlier this year, the US president made headlines when he signed the landmark bipartisan Take it Down Act 2025, a move many saw as legislation designed to prevent harmful online abuse through Deepfakes. As per this law, serious actions would be taken against individuals caught making and distributing illegal private photos. This new nonconsensual imagery law now makes it compulsory to obtain permission from the subject before any deepfake images are shared online. It has come to light that this is the first AI abuse law in the USA, the main purpose of which is to ensure no one becomes a victim of deepfake images. Even websites fall under the purview of this new AI abuse law in the USA.
This new AI abuse law in the USA is quite comprehensive, as it covers three main types of content. The first is a real image modified in a way that looks vulgar. The second is any explicit content where a minor is the subject, and the third is the use of any image of an adult that can be deemed as “private”. As per the deepfake law in the USA, any individual or website caught in creating or distributing any of the three types of content can face a hefty fine or may face rigorous imprisonment, depending on the type of content they created or shared.
The deepfake law in the USA is most severe when it comes to minors. Even possession of any deepfake image involving a minor would lead to severe legal consequences, even if the content has never been shared. The child safety online law in the USA recognizes that sharing deepfake content of minors can cause emotional damage to the victims and thus deems it a severe cybercrime. The major reason why it has been deemed the Take it Down Act 2025 is that all the apps and websites registered in the USA that make use of user-generated content have to set up a takedown system by May 2026. This takedown system is the heart and soul of the new AI abuse law in the USA, as it will take down any form of deepfake image as soon as it is posted.
The online content moderation law 2025 is set to benefit the victims of deepfakes in a massive way. Victims of deepfakes have to now just confirm that the deepfake image for which they are filing the case truly belongs to them and give a digital signature confirming the same. As per the Take It Down Act 2025, once a deepfake image has been reported, it has to be “taken down” from the website within 48 hours of sharing. Under the new deepfake regulation, USA websites and apps will become subject to big fines and legal actions if they fail to remove the content within 48 hours. This new law is at the heart of the AI deepfake crackdown 2025.
The penalties of the US deepfake law are now much more severe than before. If anyone is found sharing any form of nonconsensual image of an adult, they can get up to a maximum imprisonment of two years. When it comes to minors for the same offence, the guilty party can face imprisonment for up to three years. Even a threat to share a deepfake image can see someone behind bars for a period of 30 months as per the new US deepfake law 2025. Cyber experts in the USA are now of the view that the new AI abuse law would prevent the rapidly growing deepfake cases in the United States.