Sen. Cruz’s Bipartisan Effort to Protect Teenagers from Deepfake ‘Revenge Porn’…

Cruz sought to pass his TAKE IT DOWN Act by Unanimous Consent, Booker objects

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today took to the Senate floor requesting unanimous consent to pass his bipartisan Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks (TAKE IT DOWN) Act, legislation he introduced with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). The bill would criminalize the publication of non-consensual, sexually exploitative images—including AI-generated deepfakes—and require social media to have in place notice and takedown processes. Sen. Cruz’s request for unanimous consent received objection from Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), without explanation. All other U.S. Senators were in agreement to allow its passage.

The TAKE IT DOWN Act has received widespread support from tech industry leaders, law enforcement, victim advocacy groups, and over 80 organizations and previously passed the Commerce Committee unanimously.

Prior to Sen. Booker’s objection, Sen. Cruz said:

“The Take It Down Act deliberately adopted the exact same language the Senator from New Jersey requested in the SHIELD Act — everything he requested from the same sentencing provisions, the same intent requirements, to the same exceptions to the bill.

“Now it appears the Senator from New Jersey no longer supports the language he voted for and the language he negotiated and helped draft.

“It cannot be that the Senator from New Jersey is concerned about free speech matters since he has already agreed to pass two bills that deal with this very same issue using the same language. I certainly hope that the Senator from New Jersey doesn’t actually believe that realistic child pornography as we’ve described here today is protected speech under any of our legal precedents. It is not.

“The only differences between the two bills that perhaps the Senator from New Jersey can possibly point to is that Take It Down criminalizes the publication of deepfake revenge porn — an issue this body has not yet addressed — and that Take It Down requires Big Tech companies to remove these heinous images upon notice from the victims in order to protect the reputation of victims.  

“Neither of these positive changes are good reasons to hold up the bill, but they are essential for bringing justice to our constituents from Francesca to Elliston. 

“So if he objects, teenage girls, like Francesca Mani of New Jersey, Elliston Berry of Texas or teenage boys like Gavin Guffey, will have no protection from sextortion or from having fake sexual abuse material images and videos — literal child pornography — from being publicly shared by predators and sex offenders.  

“If he objects, the next Francesca, the next Elliston, or the next Gavin won’t be able to force Snapchat or Instagram or TikTok to step up and take down this abusive content.

“All he has to do is honor the agreement he made with the Senator from Minnesota.

Video of Sen. Cruz’s full remarks is available HERE and a transcript is included at the bottom of this press release.  

Two of the leading victim advocates for the TAKE IT DOWN Act, Francesca Mani of Westfield, New Jersey and Elliston Berry of Aledo, Texas, issued statements after Sen. Booker blocked this legislation.

Ms. Mani said:

“No woman or child should endure the experience I faced at 14, with real or fake nude images being shared online. It’s up to our elected officials to create laws that protect us. Unfortunately, tonight, by blocking the TAKE IT DOWN Act, my elected official, Senator Cory Booker, failed me and my fellow victims and has left us vulnerable. This is very disappointing. I am asking, why Mr. Booker? Make no mistake, without this legislation swiftly becoming a law, teens like me will continue to have no accountability. While the TAKE IT DOWN Act will not yet become law, I will continue to use my voice until we address the disturbing absence of laws and school policies to protect women and teenagers like me.”

Ms. Berry said:

“Since a classmate created AI-generated nudes of me from an innocent Instagram photo, I have lived in fear that these images could resurface or be easily recreated. Without the TAKE IT DOWN Act becoming law, the spread of AI nudes remains legal in many parts of the country and victims like me are left without protection while the people behind this malicious act face no consequences. I am deeply saddened that we will have to wait even longer to receive the peace of mind knowing that this heinous act is officially a federal crime, but I will continue to use my story and voice to try to move this important bill forward and hopefully turn this horrible situation into something good.”

In June, Sen. Cruz held a field hearing in Dallas, Texas, where Ms. Berry and Ms. Mani joined victims of revenge and deepfake pornography, sharing powerful testimony and advocating for Congress to pass the TAKE IT DOWN Act. To watch the full field hearing, CLICK HERE.

Sen. Cruz’s full remarks on the Senate floor are below:

“Let me tell you two brief stories. A high schooler takes from the internet a picture of a female classmate, then uses artificial intelligence to ‘nudify’ the young girl, and shares this deepfake, sexually explicit image with the rest of the school on social media.

“The classmate, mortified and humiliated, doesn’t want to show her face at school. She spends a week begging her parents not to force her to go back. Her parents futilely report the images to the social media company but they never hear back.

“Meanwhile, everyone at school knows who distributed this sexually explicit image of this 14-year old girl. But he faces no consequence.

“Here’s the second story.

“A teenage boy begins a relationship online with a young girl. He’s smitten and they decide to swap explicit photos with each other. But it turns out, the teenage girl is a scammer, and he’s just fallen prey to sextortion. The scammer repeatedly messages the young man, demanding payment or the photos will be sent to his friends via his social media network. The young man, embarrassed and thinking there’s no way out, dies by suicide. His name was Gavin Guffey and his father is here today advocating to hold Big Tech accountable.

“On my lapel, I’m wearing the heart emoji that Gavin texted his family moments before he took his own life.

“Where did these stories took place. Texas? New Jersey? South Carolina? Washington? California? Illinois? Florida?

“Sadly, the answer is all of them.

“American high schools are experiencing an explosion of AI generated sexual images, and in many cases, there is no consequence and no recourse for the teenage girls or boys like Gavin.

“There have been thousands of cases of sleazebags using nonconsensual intimate images to extort victims — both sexually and financially. In fact, the FBI just issued a warning this year about the growing threat of sextortion for minors online.

“There are dozens of families across the country whose children have taken their own life because of their fear of these images being released.?

“There are hundreds of high schoolers targeted — often by their own classmates — who are experiencing incredible psychological harms knowing these images exist and are still out there.

“And your child’s images aren’t just targeted while they are in middle school or high school.

“In New York, a young man right out of high school took images of his former classmates from their social media profiles and used AI to alter the images in a sexually explicit manner.

“He then posted them for the world to see, along with their personal identifying information, encouraging violence and harassment against those he was victimizing. He was convicted of only a misdemeanor, and faced zero charges for the deepfake explicit images.

“And I’d venture to guess some of his victims tried and failed to get these fake images removed by the tech company.

“I have spoken to these victims and their parents — including two 14-year-old girls who were victims in the same month, with the same story, on opposites sides of the country. These girls were scared, hopeless — but they also wanted justice and relief from these images so they took action.

“Elliston Berry of Texas and Francesca Mani of New Jersey bravely spoke up about their experiences and how the TAKE IT DOWN Act, my bipartisan legislation with Senator Klobuchar of Minnesota, would have protected them and afforded them justice for these horrific acts.

“Both Ellison and Francesca testified at a field hearing for the Senate Commerce Committee, bravely sharing their stories.

“There are 29 states that have not criminalized deepfake revenge porn. Thus, law enforcement in those states cannot prosecute the slimeballs who peddle this lifelike yet fake smut. That’s justice denied for these teenagers and other victims.

“The TAKE IT DOWN Act empowers victims across the entire United States. It makes it a felony for these creeps to use AI to create and publish fake, lifelike pornographic images of real people.

“Just as importantly, our bipartisan bill requires Big Tech to have a notice-and-takedown process so every American—not just the Taylor Swift’s of this country that are famous enough that they can get the images taken down, but every American, every teenager in junior high and high school — who are victimized — like Elliston and Francesca and Gavin — can get these disturbing images offline immediately.

“I don’t want to see another family suffer such a fate, which is why I’m on the floor today today trying to pass the TAKE IT DOWN Act.

“This bill is overwhelmingly bipartisan. There are nearly 20 Republican and Democrat cosponsors of this bill.

“Over 80 organizations including victim advocates, unions, and law enforcement are backing this bipartisan legislation.

“The TAKE IT DOWN Act passed the Commerce Committee unanimously. Every Republican, every Democrat voted for this legislation.

“The House companion likewise has strong bipartisan support.

“The Senate has acted on parts of this issue earlier this year — having passed two complementary pieces of legislation 11 weeks ago. However, neither of those bills empower victims to get their explicit images, real or fake, removed from websites.

“In a moment, unfortunately, you will be hearing from my colleague, the Senator from New Jersey, who previously supported both of these complimentary bills. One of those bills, the SHIELD Act authored by Senator Klobuchar, the coauthor of my TAKE IT DOWN Act as well, the SHIELD Act was significantly modified at the request of my colleague from New Jersey before he would allow it to pass.

“The Take It Down Act deliberately adopted the exact same language the Senator from New Jersey requested in the SHIELD Act — everything he requested from the same sentencing provisions, the same intent requirements, to the same exceptions to the bill.

“Now it appears the Senator from New Jersey no longer supports the language he voted for and the language he negotiated and helped draft.

“It cannot be that the Senator from New Jersey is concerned about free speech matters since he has already agreed to pass two bills that deal with this very same issue using the same language. I certainly hope that the Senator from New Jersey doesn’t actually believe that realistic child pornography as we’ve described here today is protected speech under any of our legal precedents. It is not.

“The only differences between the two bills that perhaps the Senator from New Jersey can possibly point to is that Take It Down criminalizes the publication of deepfake revenge porn — an issue this body has not yet addressed — and that Take It Down requires Big Tech companies to remove these heinous images upon notice from the victims in order to protect the reputation of victims.  

“Neither of these positive changes are good reasons to hold up the bill, but they are essential for bringing justice to our constituents from Francesca to Elliston. 

“So if he objects, teenage girls, like Francesca Mani of New Jersey, Elliston Berry of Texas or teenage boys like Gavin Guffey, will have no protection from sextortion or from having fake sexual abuse material images and videos — literal child pornography — from being publicly shared by predators and sex offenders.  

“If he objects, the next Francesca, the next Elliston, or the next Gavin won’t be able to force Snapchat or Instagram or TikTok to step up and take down this abusive content.

“All he has to do is honor the agreement he made with the Senator from Minnesota.

“For the folks at home, I want you to listen very carefully. Sometimes Senate procedure can be confusing. I want you to listen for two words from the Senator from New Jersey. I object.

“Let me tell you how this works. If he doesn’t say those two words, this legislation will, right now this evening, pass the United States Senate 100 to nothing. And understand this legislation, 99 senators have already indicated they have no objections to this legislation.

“All the senator from New Jersey has to do is not say those two words, I object, and this law is passed by the Senate unanimously 

“On the other hand, if you hear those two words, I object, the result is going to be that this legislation is defeated on the floor of the Senate.

“On behalf of Elliston Berry, on behalf of Francesca Mani, on behalf of the memory of Gavin Guffey and his family that still grieves his loss, on behalf of the countless teenagers and others who have been victimized by real and by deepfake explicit images, on behalf of the thousands more teenagers and women that are likely to be victims of this abuse in the future, I urge my colleagues to come together with a simple, bipartisan, common sense step and pass the TAKE IT DOWN Act.”

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