US deepfake rules: TAKE IT DOWN Act duties and the FCC AI-voice robocall ruling

Where the two sources come from

Two primary documents answer this question, and they differ a great deal in detail. The first is the text of S.146, the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which Congress.gov shows as Public Law No. 119-12 with the date 05/19/2025. The Act's long title says it is an act to require covered platforms to remove nonconsensual intimate visual depictions. The second document is an FCC news release about AI-generated voices in robocalls. The Act holds almost all of the specific duties in these sources, so this guide covers it first, in three parts: the criminal offense, the duties of platforms, and enforcement. The FCC ruling comes last.

The criminal offense: publishing intimate deepfakes

AI-made imagery enters the Act through the definition of a digital forgery. The Act defines a digital forgery as an intimate visual depiction of an identifiable individual created through the use of software, machine learning, artificial intelligence, or any other computer-generated or technological means.

The Act then makes it unlawful for any person, in interstate or foreign commerce, to use an interactive computer service to knowingly publish a digital forgery of an identifiable individual who is not a minor, once further conditions in the text are met.

For offenses involving adults, the Act says a violator shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.

For offenses involving minors, the Act sets the maximum prison term at 3 years.

The Act also adds a rule on consent. Consent to the creation of an intimate image does not establish consent to its publication, according to the text.

The Act lists exceptions to the offense. One covers a disclosure made reasonably and in good faith in the reporting of unlawful content or unsolicited or unwelcome conduct.

Which services count as a covered platform

The takedown duties attach to a "covered platform", and the Act's definitions section sets the scope with alternative tests. One test is a service that primarily provides a forum for user-generated content, including messages, videos, images, games, and audio files.

A second test reaches a service for which publishing or hosting this material is part of ordinary business. The Act words it as a service for which it is in the regular course of trade or business to publish, curate, host, or make available content of nonconsensual intimate visual depictions.

The definition also carves out some services. It excludes a provider of broadband internet access service.

What a covered platform must build and run

The first duty is a process. The Act says a covered platform shall establish, not later than 1 year after the date of enactment, a process through which an identifiable individual, or an authorized person acting for that individual, can notify the platform of a depiction and ask for its removal.

The second duty is public notice. The Act requires the platform to provide a clear and conspicuous notice of the process, which may be a link to another web page or disclosure.

The third item is the content of a request. A removal request must include a physical or electronic signature of the identifiable individual, or of an authorized person acting for them, along with other items the Act lists.

The fourth duty is the removal clock. On receiving a valid request, the Act says a covered platform shall act as soon as possible and not later than 48 hours.

The same provision extends the work beyond the single item named in the request. The platform must also make reasonable efforts to identify and remove any known identical copies of the depiction.

The Act gives platforms a liability limit for removals made in good faith. It covers claims based on facts or circumstances from which unlawful publishing is apparent, regardless of whether the depiction is later found unlawful.

How the takedown duties are enforced

The Federal Trade Commission enforces the takedown section. The Act says a failure to reasonably comply with the notice and takedown obligations is treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice.

The Act also reaches organizations outside the FTC's usual jurisdiction. It directs the FTC to enforce the section with respect to organizations that are not organized to carry on business for their own profit or that of their members.

The FCC ruling on AI-generated voices

The FCC news release covers the second half of the question. It says the FCC announced the unanimous adoption of a Declaratory Ruling that recognizes calls made with AI-generated voices are "artificial" under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

The news release page supplied for this guide states that holding in a single description. It does not set out consent rules, penalties or caller steps, so this guide states none. The detailed obligations in these two sources sit in the TAKE IT DOWN Act, in the sections above.