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Protecting Against Deepfake Abuse

The DEFIANCE Act of 2024 aims to hold accountable those responsible for creating and distributing nonconsensual deepfake images and videos. Deepfakes use artificial intelligence to create realistic fake images and videos without consent. Most deepfake content online is sexually explicit and targets women without their permission. The Act creates a federal civil remedy for victims identifiable in deepfakes to sue those who produced, possessed, or distributed the content without consent. It also extends the statute of limitations and provides privacy protections for victims during litigation involving deepfake content.

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73 views1 page

Protecting Against Deepfake Abuse

The DEFIANCE Act of 2024 aims to hold accountable those responsible for creating and distributing nonconsensual deepfake images and videos. Deepfakes use artificial intelligence to create realistic fake images and videos without consent. Most deepfake content online is sexually explicit and targets women without their permission. The Act creates a federal civil remedy for victims identifiable in deepfakes to sue those who produced, possessed, or distributed the content without consent. It also extends the statute of limitations and provides privacy protections for victims during litigation involving deepfake content.

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lordescastle
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The DEFIANCE Act of 2024

Judiciary Chair Richard J. Durbin, Ranking Member Lindsey Graham

The bipartisan Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act of 2024 or the
DEFIANCE Act of 2024 would hold accountable those who are responsible for the proliferation
of nonconsensual, sexually-explicit “deepfake” images and videos.

Deepfakes are videos or images created through artificial intelligence that look completely
realistic. They may superimpose an individual’s likeness onto real video footage depicting
someone else, or they may consist of entirely original content where someone is represented
doing or saying something they did not do or say. In either case, these deepfakes are hoaxes.

The volume of deepfake content available online is increasing exponentially as the technology
used to create it has become more accessible to the public. The overwhelming majority of this
material is sexually explicit and is produced without the consent of the person depicted. A 2019
study found that 96 percent of deepfake videos were nonconsensual pornography.

Sexually-explicit deepfake content is often used to exploit and harass women—particularly


public figures, politicians, and celebrities. For example, in January 2024, fake, sexually-explicit
images of Taylor Swift that were generated by artificial intelligence swept across social media
platforms. Although the imagery may be fake, the harm to the victims from the distribution of
sexually explicit deepfakes is very real. Victims have lost their jobs, and may suffer ongoing
depression or anxiety.

The laws have not kept up with the spread of this abusive content. To stop the proliferation of
nonconsensual, sexually-explicit deepfakes, the DEFIANCE Act of 2024 creates a federal civil
remedy for victims who are identifiable in a “digital forgery,” which is defined as a visual
depiction created through the use of software, machine learning, artificial intelligence, or any
other computer-generated or technological means to falsely appear to be authentic.

The civil remedy applies to digital forgeries that depict the victim in the nude, or engaged in
sexually-explicit conduct or sexual scenarios. The remedy is enforceable against individuals
who produced or possessed the forgery with intent to distribute it; or who produced, distributed,
or received the forgery, if the individual knew or recklessly disregarded that the victim did not
consent to the conduct.

This bill creates a statute of limitations of 10 years (more than double the default statute of
limitations); tolls the running of the statute of limitations until the plaintiff learns about the
nonconsensual deepfake intimate image or they turn 18, whichever occurs later; and elaborates
on the privacy protections available to plaintiffs during the course of any litigation, particularly
with respect to the handling of discovery of the content at issue. These provisions would apply
both to existing law relating to nonconsensual disclosure of intimate images and the new cause
of action for nonconsensual deepfake intimate images.

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