The DEFIANCE Act now heads to the House for approval. If passed, it would be the first federal law to create a civil cause of action for deepfakes. Previous legislative attempts to control deepfakes focused on criminal penalties, whereas the DEFIANCE Act emphasizes civil legal recourse. The bill has been praised by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Ocasio-Cortez, who highlighted the widespread problem of deepfakes and the need for victims to have legal remedies.
Key takeaways:
- The Senate has unanimously passed the DEFIANCE Act, a bipartisan bill that provides recourse to victims of porn deepfakes, which are sexually-explicit, non-consensual images created with artificial intelligence.
- The legislation, led by Sens. Dick Durbin and Lindsey Graham, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, would amend the Violence Against Women Act to allow people to sue those who produce, distribute, or receive the deepfake pornography, if they knew or recklessly disregarded the fact that the victim did not consent to those images.
- The bill was initially blocked by Rep. Cynthia Lummis in June, but the most recent version includes a 'findings' section that refines the definition of 'digital forgery' and updates the available damages to ensure victims receive appropriate compensation.
- If the DEFIANCE Act passes the House, it would become the first federal law to create a civil cause of action for deepfakes. Currently, there are a few federal statutes that can be used for criminal prosecution of deepfakes for minors, but DEFIANCE would allow both adults and minors to sue.