Well, well, well. Donald J. Trump, a man whose name is as synonymous with "unfiltered content" as it is with gold-plated everything, just signed the TAKE IT DOWN Act into law on May 19, 2025. Yes, you read that right. Trump — the same guy who spent years pretending lawsuits, subpoenas, and moral compasses were mere suggestions — has now championed a law that protects people from nonconsensual porn.
The full name? S.146, the “Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act.” That’s a mouthful, which is exactly the kind of phrase this law is trying to prevent from being paired with your face in an AI-generated video you never agreed to. The acronym is TAKE IT DOWN, which is either the result of a brilliant staffer who moonlights in public relations, or the most ironically self-owning title in legislative history.
Let’s unpack this digital Trojan horse of decency — with all the snark it deserves.
A Law Against the Very Thing He’s Famous For?
The TAKE IT DOWN Act criminalizes the intentional disclosure of nonconsensual intimate visual depictions, also known as revenge porn, AI deepfake porn, and “oops, my nudes are on the blockchain.” Platforms now have to remove such content promptly or face penalties. This includes deepfake images, which means your creepy ex or a bored tech bro can no longer graft your face onto a porn star's body and upload it to a shady server farm in Moldova without risking jail time.
But here’s the kicker: Trump signed this.
Yes, that Trump. The man who once defended the Access Hollywood tape as “locker room talk,” whose presidency made phrases like “grab ’em by the…” a household political debate. The guy with more lawsuits involving sexual misconduct than some whole districts have criminal court dockets. That Trump.
The hypocrisy is so thick you could slice it into steaks and sell them on Truth Social for $59.99 a pack.
Why Did Trump Do It?
Let’s not pretend Trump had a moral awakening here. There are only two reasons Donald Trump does anything: (1) it benefits Donald Trump, or (2) someone tricked him into thinking it would.
This law actually might tick both boxes.
See, deepfakes have become a threat to powerful men, and when things threaten powerful men, suddenly the legislative machine sputters to life like a lawnmower that’s been collecting dust since the Nixon era. And wouldn’t you know it, Trump himself has been the subject of more than a few AI-generated… let’s call them “unflattering hypotheticals.”
From Trump-dancing-in-a-thong memes to courtroom deepfakes of him doing the Macarena in handcuffs, the internet is relentless. And once those start interfering with his “campaign” (read: merch store), action had to be taken.
Also, let’s face it — AI deepfake porn is so good now that it’s actually confusing people. The MAGA crowd is not exactly known for their deep media literacy, and the risk of “accidentally jerking off to Kamala Harris in a scenario produced by a rogue Midjourney prompt” probably hit too close to home.
Consent in a Trump Law? That’s Rich.
The law specifically targets nonconsensual depictions. That’s not just legally relevant — that’s practically a rebuke of the whole Trump aesthetic.
Remember, consent is that thing you ask for before doing something to someone else’s body. It’s the thing feminists, sex educators, and, oh I don’t know, basic human decency have been screaming about for decades.
Trump’s track record on consent is roughly as consistent as his spray tan: patchy, confusing, and mostly ignored.
The irony of this man signing a bill to protect consent is cosmic. It’s like Elon Musk creating a union. It’s like Kanye West giving a speech about humility. It’s like Marjorie Taylor Greene getting a PhD in climate science.
And yet, here we are. Living in a world where Donald Trump is the guy putting his tiny signature on a big law that — on paper — defends your right not to have your digital self violated.
The Internet: Now With Less Creep
Let’s talk logistics. The TAKE IT DOWN Act will force websites and networks — especially the “platforms of significant scale” — to build mechanisms for reporting, removing, and preventing these kinds of visual assaults.
What that means in practice is this:
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Reddit mods now have another reason to panic.
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Twitter (sorry, X) will have to stop pretending AI porn of Ariana Grande is “just a meme.”
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Facebook’s army of underpaid content moderators will be asked to do even more for even less.
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OnlyFans users can rest a little easier knowing that their faces probably won’t end up in Ukrainian revenge-porn databases.
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Pornhub is… weirdly thrilled? (No, really, they’ve been pushing for this kind of legislation so people stop blaming them every time someone’s face ends up on a body doing backflips in a questionable yoga class.)
And let’s not forget the real MVP here: Section 230, the law that has long protected platforms from being held liable for user-generated content. This new act pokes some holes in that sacred cow, saying essentially: “Okay, but if it’s deepfake porn and someone reported it, and you don’t take it down… now it’s your problem, Zuck.”
So, Who’s Mad?
Oh, they’re mad.
Free speech absolutists are foaming at the mouth. “This is censorship!” they cry, somehow confusing someone’s right to exist without being digitally violated with a Constitutional amendment.
Tech libertarians are clutching their Tor routers and sobbing into their API keys. “What if someone misuses the reporting tools?” Yes, what if? What if, for once, women don’t have to call a lawyer because someone turned their prom photo into an X-rated machinima?
Incels and Reddit trolls are spiraling. If they can’t weaponize Photoshop to simulate relationships they’ll never have, what’s next? Emotional growth?
Even some AI researchers are wringing their hands. “But this could chill innovation in generative media!” Right. Because the worst possible outcome of slowing down AI porn is… slightly better AI porn.
Okay, So Who Actually Benefits?
Let’s be clear: victims benefit.
This law is for people whose faces have been stolen. People who’ve had to explain to their employers, friends, and families that no, that’s not me in the video. People whose mental health has crumbled because of a pervert with a GPU and too much time.
Women benefit, overwhelmingly. Trans people benefit. Teachers, journalists, political candidates — anyone vulnerable to digital defamation through explicit content, especially in election years, benefits.
And yes, Trump himself benefits — ironically. Now he has federal protection from that increasingly believable video of him crying in a diaper while trying to climb a golf cart.
From TAKE IT DOWN to TAKE A BOW?
Is this Trump’s attempt at a legacy shift? Is this his “compassionate conservative” moment? Is this his Oprah moment? ("You get your nudes taken down! You get your nudes taken down!")
Let’s not go that far.
This isn’t policy born of principle. This is policy born of public pressure, technological panic, and maybe — just maybe — a long-overdue understanding that internet platforms can’t just host literal trauma porn and call it “user engagement.”
But even if Trump stumbled into doing the right thing here, let’s give a slow clap for the advocates, lawyers, sex educators, and survivors who’ve been pushing for a law like this since MySpace was a thing. They built the momentum. Trump just wandered into the room with a pen.
The Road Ahead: Enforcement or PR Stunt?
Will this law actually work?
Enforcement is going to be the big test. The internet is like a hydra: you cut off one porn-generating head, and three more pop up selling NFTs of it. How fast can platforms respond? Will the courts back up victims? Will algorithms be trained to detect deepfakes faster than they’re created?
The answers: slowly, probably not fast enough, and only if there's funding.
The big question is: will Trump use this law the next time someone makes a deepfake of him licking a lollipop in a sailor suit? Because you know that’s coming. And when he sues, just remember: he’s suing under a law he signed.
A law called the TAKE IT DOWN Act.
Final Thought: Can We Get a "KEEP IT DOWN" Act Next?
So here we are. Trump has passed a law that says “you don’t get to violate someone else’s body, digitally or otherwise, just because you have an internet connection and boundary issues.”
It’s good policy. It’s also the kind of policy that makes you wonder if we’ve entered a simulation glitch. Because if Trump is out here signing consent bills, maybe next week he’ll champion a Green New Deal or go vegan.
But hey — take your wins where you can get them. And if your ex ever tries to upload a CGI version of you doing the horizontal mambo, just remember: now you can send them a nice little cease and desist... signed, sealed, and Trump-approved.
Now that’s the biggest plot twist of 2025.
Want this in meme form? Just wait. They’re already rendering Trump holding the bill upside down while a watermark says: “I didn’t read it, but I signed it.”
And honestly? That might be the most honest thing about this entire saga.
