S. 146 — Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act

This section amends Section 223 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 223) to establish criminal prohibitions against knowingly using an interactive computer service, in interstate or foreign commerce, to publish nonconsensual intimate visual depictions (as defined in 15 U.S.C. 6851). Specifically, it prohibits (1) publication of authentic intimate visual depictions of adults obtained under a reasonable expectation of privacy, not voluntarily exposed publicly, not of public concern, and intended to cause or causing harm (psychological, financial, or reputational); (2) publication of authentic intimate visual depictions of minors (under age 18) with intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse or gratify sexual desire; (3) publication of digital forgeries (i.e., AI-generated or technologically altered depictions indistinguishable from authentic ones) of adults without consent under similar harm conditions; and (4) publication of digital forgeries of minors with similar abusive intents. Exceptions apply to law enforcement and intelligence activities; good-faith disclosures to law enforcement, in legal proceedings, for medical/educational purposes, to report unlawful content, or to seek support; disclosures to assist the depicted individual; self-publication; and content constituting child pornography or obscene visual representations of child sexual abuse. (Thus, the provision criminalizes nonconsensual "revenge porn" and deepfake pornography online, complementing civil remedies under 15 U.S.C. 6851.)

This section requires covered platforms to establish, not later than one year after the date of enactment, a process allowing an identifiable individual (or authorized representative) to notify the platform of and request removal of a nonconsensual intimate visual depiction featuring the individual, with required elements including a signature, depiction location, good faith statement of nonconsent, and contact information. Covered platforms must post conspicuous notice of the process in plain language, remove a validly requested depiction as soon as possible but not later than 48 hours after receipt, and make reasonable efforts to remove identical copies; it provides liability protection for good faith removals. The Federal Trade Commission enforces compliance by treating failures as unfair or deceptive acts or practices under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act and expands the agency's jurisdiction to non-profit organizations notwithstanding sections 4, 5(a)(2), and 6 of that Act (15 U.S.C. 44, 45(a)(2), 46).

This section establishes definitions for purposes of the Act, including (1) "Commission" as the Federal Trade Commission; (2) "consent," "digital forgery," "identifiable individual," "intimate visual depiction," and "minor" as having the meanings given those terms in section 223(h) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 223), as added by section 2 of this Act; and (3) "covered platform" as a website, online service, online application, or mobile application that serves the public and (i) primarily provides a forum for user-generated content (e.g., messages, videos, images, games, audio files) or (ii) in the regular course of business publishes, curates, hosts, or makes available nonconsensual intimate visual depictions, excluding broadband internet access service providers, electronic mail, and certain preselected-content services with incidental interactive features.

This section establishes a severability clause, providing that the invalidity of any provision of the Act or its amendments does not affect the remaining provisions or amendments.