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Trump Signs Controversial Law Targeting Nonconsensual Sexual Content


The Take It Down Act requires platforms to remove instances of “intimate visual depiction” within two days. Free speech advocates warn it could be weaponized to fuel censorship.

US President Donald Trump signed into law legislation on Monday nicknamed the Take It Down Act, which requires platforms to remove nonconsensual instances of “intimate visual depiction” within 48 hours of receiving a request. Last year, for example, Google secured a default judgment against two individuals accused of orchestrating a scheme to suppress competitors in the T-shirt industry by filing frivolous requests to remove hundreds of thousands of search results. Since it receives millions of DMCA takedown requests annually, Google has said in court papers that it “often must rely” on the “accuracy of the statements submitted by copyright claimants.” It’s difficult to imagine that the process would be any different for Take It Down, says Becca Branum, deputy director of the free expression project at the Center for Democracy and Technology.

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