Melania Trump to speak for the first time on Capitol Hill in roundtable focused on punishing revenge porn
First lady Melania Trump will speak on Capitol Hill Monday for the first time since returning to the White House, participating in a roundtable with lawmakers from both chambers of Congress focused on punishing online abuse and revenge pornography.
The roundtable discussion will focus on online protection and the “Take it Down Act,” a bill introduced in the Senate by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., that would make it a federal crime to publish, or threaten to publish, nonconsensual intimate imagery, including “digital forgeries” crafted by artificial intelligence.
The bill also would require social media companies and similar websites to put procedures in place to remove such content within 48 hours of notice from the victim.
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The bill would protect victims of digital exploitation and hold internet platforms accountable by requiring them to remove such imagery.
Reps. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., and Madeleine Dean, D-Penn., introduced the legislation in the House in January. That measure is under consideration in the House Energy and Commerce Committees before consideration on the House floor.
The law also would require penalties of up to three years in prison for sharing nonconsensual intimate images — authentic or AI-generated — involving minors and two years in prison for those images involving adults. It also would require penalties of up to two and a half years in prison for threat offenses involving minors, and one and a half years in prison for threats involving adults.
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AI-generated images known as “deepfakes” often involve editing videos or photos of people to make them look like someone else by using artifical intelligence. Deepfakes hit the public’s radar in 2017 after a Reddit user posted realistic-looking pornography of celebrities to the platform, opening the floodgates to users employing AI to make images look more convincing and widely shared in the following years.
Nearly every U.S. state has a law protecting people from nonconsensual intimate image violations, but the laws vary in classification of crime and penalty.
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The event Monday is the first where the first lady is giving public remarks since President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
During the first Trump administration, Melania Trump hosted virtual roundtables on foster care as part of her “Be Best” initiative and focused on strengthening the child welfare system. The “Be Best” initiative also focused on online safety.
During her husband’s first term as president, she also worked with members of Congress on legislation that secured funding for grants awarded to youth and young adults currently or formerly in foster care to help pay for college, career school or training. The bill ultimately was signed by the president in December 2020.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain, Reps. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., Kevin Hern, R-Okla., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, will attend Monday’s event.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
