Crime and Punishment Online: Evaluating the TAKE IT DOWN Act
Large language models (LLMs) have become a major touchpoint at the state and local level in recent years. LLMs’ ability to create images, videos, music, writing, and other artistic works of varying social value has sparked a rush across the states to introduce legislation and regulations to limit the possible harms that might ensue.
More recently, that rush has also extended to the federal level. In May, President Donald Trump signed S. 146, the TAKE IT DOWN Act (formally, the “Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act.”) Sponsored by Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the law focuses on harms arising from so-called “revenge porn,” in which either genuine photos or video or “digital forgeries” intended to look like real persons are shared online without the subject’s consent.