Why Trump can’t be trusted with Congress’ new anti-deepfake bill

On today’s section of Decoder, I’m talking to Verge argumentation editor Adi Robertson astir the Take It Down Act, which is portion of a agelong statement of bills that would make it forbidden to administer non-consensual friendly imagery, aliases NCII. That’s a wide word that encompasses what group utilized to telephone revenge porn, but which now includes things for illustration deepfaked nudes.

The measure was sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and it conscionable passed the Senate. It would create criminal penalties for group who stock NCII, including AI-generated imagery, and besides unit platforms to return it down wrong 48 hours of a study aliases look financial penalties.

NCII is simply a existent and devastating problem connected the net — it ruins a batch of people’s lives, and AI is conscionable making it worse. There are a batch of bully reasons you’d want to walk a measure for illustration this, but Adi conscionable wrote a agelong portion arguing that giving the Trump management caller powers complete reside successful this measurement would beryllium a mistake. Specifically, she wrote that it would beryllium handing Trump a “weapon” pinch which to onslaught reside and reside platforms he doesn’t like.

At a precocious level, her statement is that Trump is overmuch much apt to wield a rule for illustration this against his enemies — which intends beautiful overmuch anyone he doesn’t personally for illustration aliases work together pinch — and overmuch much apt to shield the group and companies he considers friends from the consequences. And we cognize who his friends are: it’s Elon Musk, who now useful arsenic portion of the Trump management while astatine the aforesaid clip moving X, which is afloat of NCII.

Now, Adi and I person been covering online reside and really it’s regulated for astir arsenic agelong arsenic The Verge has existed. We person gone backmost and distant connected wherever the lines should beryllium drawn and who should tie them arsenic galore times arsenic 2 group tin complete the years. But that speech has ever presupposed a stable, logical strategy of policymaking that’s based connected the adjacent exertion of law.

Here successful 2025, Trump has made it clear that he tin and will selectively enforce the law, and that changes everything. Once you break the adjacent exertion of law, you break a batch of things — and there’s conscionable nary grounds Trump is willing successful the adjacent exertion of law. You’ll perceive america really wrestle pinch this here. The problem doesn’t spell distant conscionable because the solutions are getting worse, aliases that the group entrusted pinch enforcing the rule are getting much chaotic.

So successful this episode, Adi and I really get into the specifications of the Take It Down Act, really it mightiness beryllium weaponized, and why we yet can’t spot thing the Trump management says astir protecting the victims of this abuse.

Questions aliases comments astir this episode? Hit america up astatine [email protected]. We really do publication each email!