Senate unanimously approves bill to toughen penalties against pornographic deepfakes

The U.S. Senate unanimously approved legislation, passed under a fast-track procedure, to toughen federal sanctions against explicit images manipulated with artificial intelligence, known as deepfakes. The vote, taken quietly on Tuesday, now sends the bill to the House of Representatives, which must review it before it can reach President Donald Trump's desk.

The initiative seeks to strengthen the legal framework against content that, according to its sponsors, has left numerous victims without adequate recourse to protect their image and their privacy in the digital environment. The bill was introduced by Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, and has bipartisan support, including that of Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina.

Scope and objectives of the DEFIANCE Act

The proposal, called the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act (DEFIANCE), is designed to strengthen penalties against the creation, distribution or solicitation of non-consensual digital forgeries. The text would allow victims to sue those who create, solicit, possess with the intent to share or disseminate such material, and provide fines of up to $250,000 per violation.

In addition, the legislation authorizes federal courts to order the removal and deletion of the images, issue injunctive relief to prevent their dissemination, establish privacy protections for victims during litigation, and apply a statute of limitations that can extend up to 10 years.

Impact on victims

During consideration of the bill, Durbin stressed that exposure to explicit deepfakes can have long-lasting consequences for those who suffer from them, including emotional and personal affects that extend over time. The senator advocated that the law seeks to give victims a clear path to the courts and to hold accountable those who continue to disseminate such content.