S. 1837 — DEFIANCE Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings that non-consensual, sexually intimate digital forgeries (i.e., deepfakes) cause profound harm to victims—including privacy violations, psychological distress such as depression and anxiety, social isolation, and facilitation of harassment, extortion, and other crimes—and constitute a form of image-based sexual abuse.

This section revises the civil remedy for nonconsensual disclosure of intimate visual depictions (15 U.S.C. 6851)—commonly known as the federal "revenge porn" statute—to also cover intimate digital forgeries (i.e., AI-generated or technologically manipulated depictions of intimate conduct that are indistinguishable from authentic images, even if labeled as fake). (As background, the statute previously allowed an identifiable individual to sue in federal court for nonconsensual disclosure of their actual intimate images made in interstate commerce; available relief includes damages, injunctions, attorney fees, and costs.) Specifically, the section (1) inserts "competent" into the definition of consent; (2) strikes the definition of "depicted individual" and adds a new, broader definition of "identifiable individual" that applies to both intimate visual depictions and intimate digital forgeries; (3) adds a definition of "intimate digital forgery"; (4) modifies the definition of "intimate visual depiction" to reference "identifiable individuals"; and (5) revises the section heading to "Civil action relating to disclosure of intimate images or nonconsensual activity involving digital forgeries." The section further expands the right of action in subsection (b) to allow suits against any person who (1) discloses an intimate visual depiction without the subject's consent (as before, with knowledge or reckless disregard); (2) knowingly produces or possesses an intimate digital forgery with intent to disclose it, discloses it, or solicits/receives it without consent (with knowledge or reckless disregard), if in interstate commerce; or (3) knowingly produces an intimate digital forgery without consent, knowing it harms or is likely to harm the subject, if in interstate commerce. (Thus, victims may now sue for deepfake production alone if harmful, even without disclosure.) It also updates related provisions on standing for minors/incapacitated/deceased individuals, affirmative defenses, and relief to incorporate identifiable individuals and digital forgeries.

This section (1) establishes a severability clause providing that if any provision of the Act or its amendments is held unconstitutional as applied to any person or circumstance, the remainder of the Act and its amendments remain in effect; and (2) specifies that nothing in the Act or its amendments limits or expands any intellectual property law.