First Lady-Championed Law Criminalizing Nonconsensual Sexual Images Signed By the President

Melania Trump ushers in bipartisan legislation, a step in holding Big Tech companies accountable for content on their platforms.

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump look on after signing the Take It Down Act during a bill signing ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, on Monday. The bipartisan legislation will criminalize the non-consenual publication of sexual imagery, including AI-generated deepfakes and revenge porn. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Melania Trump appeared alongside her husband at the White House Rose Garden on Monday where the president signed into law legislation that criminalizes the sharing of nonconsensual sexually explicit images, a cause the first lady championed shortly after Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Known as the Take It Down Act, the legislation, enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, penalizes anyone who spreads images of someone without their consent and requires technology platforms to promptly remove the images once reported. The bill includes AI-generated deepfake images—also commonly referred to as sextortion and revenge…