Senate Subcommittee Should Get Deepfake Policy Right With Real, Clear Fixes—Not Opaque Overreach

WASHINGTON—This afternoon, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a subcommittee hearing on policymaking around deepfakes generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools. We appreciate the Subcommittee looking into this important issue but caution that any legislation must be narrowly tailored to target real harms without impeding speech protections. 

Notably, Congress has also already taken up this issue in a bipartisan fashion, passing by large margins the Take It Down Act, which was signed into law on Monday by President Donald Trump. 

“The criminal abuse of AI tools to create nonconsensual deepfakes can damage a person’s life and dignity. While we certainly commend the subcommittee for looking into this important issue, Congress just passed and the President just signed the Take It Down Act, which makes it a federal crime to share or threaten to share AI-generated deepfakes without someone’s consent. Any additional legislation must be precisely focused to address real, tangible harms while respecting free speech rights and innovation,” said Amy Bos, NetChoice Director of State & Federal Affairs. 

One positive move the subcommittee should consider is spearheading the Stop Deepfake CSAM Act. This simple, narrowly-tailored bill would fill a big gap in existing child protection laws. It would make clear that it is illegal for criminals and predators to use AI to “modify” intimate images of children. This is a horrific crime, and policymakers should ensure these predators exploiting children go to prison.  

NetChoice cautions against proposals like the “NO FAKES Act,” which is overbroad and could be misused to censor legitimate speech, sweeping in content-based regulations of protected speech and violating the First Amendment. Instead, we encourage the subcommittee to take up targeted, clear and corrective rules while avoiding painting with a broad brush in a manner that could unintentionally undermine free speech, squander innovation and hinder America’s Golden Age. 

Watch the hearing at 2:30 PM Eastern Time today here. 

Please contact press@netchoice.org with inquiries. 

Image via Unsplash.