Two months after First ladyMelania Trumpspoke up insupport of banning the publication of sexually explicit imagesand videos without a person's consent, PresidentDonald Trumpsigned legislation making it the law of the land on May 19. The president walked into the White House's Rose Garden with his wife on a warm spring afternoon and signed the bipartisan "Take it Down Act," outlawing and penalizing publication of nonconsensual real and computer-generated images, known as "deep fakes" that are often used as revenge pornography. He then turned to the first lady, seated next to him at the outdoor desk set up to sign the legislation, asking her if she wanted to sign her name on the document. She promptly autographed the leather-bound piece of paper. Addressing the audience made up of victims of revenge porn, members of Congress and Cabinet secretaries, the first lady called the new law a "national victory." "Artificial intelligence and social media are the digital candy for the next generation, sweet, addictive, and engineered to have an impact on the connectivity development of our children," she said. "But unlike sugar, these new technologies can be weaponized to shape beliefs and, sadly, affect emotions and even be deadly." In particular, she thanked Elliston Berry for speaking up and advocating on behalf of survivors after being targeted with revenge porn. Berry was 14 when a classmate used an AI app to attach a nude body to an Instagram photo of her face, before circulating it on social media. The new law will require technology platforms to remove reported "nonconsensual, sexually exploitative images" within 48 hours of receiving a valid request. Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, introduced the legislation in August. Berry has said that when she reported the incident to her school in north Texas, the authorities responded saying it was out of their control. It was only after Cruz's Senate office heard her story and reached out to Snapchat that her photos were removed. "It's a very abusive situation," said the president. "And today we're making it totally illegal." Remarking on the wide support in Congress for the bill, with 99 senators and 408 members of the House of Representatives who voted in favor of the bill, the president joked, "I wish we could get that vote from other things." During her husband's first term, Melania Trump advocated against cyberbullying with her"Be Best" campaign. Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY.You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Trump bans nonconsensual, sexual images, first lady co-signs document
