Hope for Justice is proud to have witnessed the critical moment that the TAKE IT DOWN Act was formally signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump during a ceremony at the White House.
We have been a strong supporter of this legislation since its inception and were honored to stand alongside other champions of the bill during the signing ceremony.
The Act criminalizes the publication of non-consensual intimate imagery, whether real or AI-generated (deepfakes). It requires social media platforms and other websites to remove such content within 48 hours of notice from a victim. Hope for Justice has seen a direct nexus between online exploitation and other forms of exploitation, including human trafficking, and this bill is vital in protecting further victimization and protecting survivors.
Sarah Butler, Hope for Justice’s U.S. Program Director, attended the ceremony at the White House Rose Garden and penned our organization’s name on the signed document. She said: “We proudly support the TAKE IT DOWN Act because every individual deserves the right to privacy and dignity online, and we were honored to be at the signing of this critical piece of legislation at the White House. This is a vital step toward protecting people from exploitation and ensuring swift action to remove harmful content. Our commitment is to stand with survivors, and it was a huge privilege to have participated in this momentous step.”
Through our work with survivors of human trafficking, we have a deep understanding about how online exploitation is often a direct pipeline to other forms of abuse including human trafficking. Often, survivors of human trafficking have also been subject to online exploitation. This new law will help address one critical aspect of online exploitation: revenge porn and deep-fake illicit images.
Hope for Justice has seen through our work how the threat of having explicit images (real or fake) released online has had devastating consequences, especially for young people. By implementing harsh penalties and giving survivors the ability to report and have this content removed, we are truly taking a step to protect society against this injustice.
We are grateful to Anne Basham, Founding Chair of the Interparliamentary Taskforce on Human Trafficking and CEO of Ascend Consulting, for giving us the ability to show our support for this bill. We were honoured to join with Anne and other supporters, including NGOs and stakeholders, during the signing ceremony at the White House on Monday.
Sarah recounted the “spectacular” experience of attending, which included multiple security checkpoints, live musicians on entry, and a hallway and garden lined with military members who each welcomed her to the White House. She told us: “It was a spectacular scene. It was phenomenal to be surrounded by so many influential people and to be in person with a sitting U.S. President as he signed the TAKE IT DOWN Act.”
First Lady Melania Trump, who championed the bill, said at the ceremony: “Today, through the TAKE IT DOWN Act, we affirm that the wellbeing of our children is central to the future of our families and America. I am proud to say that the values of BE BEST will be reflected in the law of the land.”
There were nearly 70 individuals in attendance at the signing, including NGOs, congresspeople (including co-sponsor of the bill Ted Cruz), the FBI director, a young person who had explicit content of herself released online, the CEO of X Corp, Linda Yaccarino, and other leaders within the tech industry.
