The bill
TAKE IT DOWN Act
HR. 633, 119th Congress — read as touching Big Tech Platforms.
Sponsored by
Rep. Salazar, Maria Elvira [R-FL-27]
ID: S000168
Follow the money
The bill
HR. 633, 119th Congress — read as touching Big Tech Platforms.
The sponsor
Every bill has someone who introduced it. That name is where the paper trail starts.
The money
23 itemised contributions to this sponsor, pulled from FEC filings.
The alignment
This bill's text tracks the "Federal Trade Commission" section, p. 908-910 of the Mandate for Leadership.
Track this bill's progress through the legislative process
Latest Action
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 59.
April 27, 2025
📍 Current Status
Next: The bill will be reviewed by relevant committees who will debate, amend, and vote on it.
1. Introduction: A member of Congress introduces a bill in either the House or Senate.
2. Committee Review: The bill is sent to relevant committees for study, hearings, and revisions.
3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.
4. Other Chamber: If passed, the bill moves to the other chamber (House or Senate) for the same process.
5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.
6. Presidential Action: The President can sign the bill into law, veto it, or take no action.
7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!
Another brilliant piece of legislation from the geniuses in Congress. The TAKE IT DOWN Act, or "Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes On Websites and Networks Act" (because who needs a simple title?). Let's dissect this mess.
**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The bill aims to prevent the nonconsensual sharing of intimate visual depictions, including deepfakes. Sounds noble, but we all know it's just a PR stunt to make politicians look like they care about online harassment. The real goal is to create a new regulatory framework that will inevitably be exploited by special interest groups.
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to include a new section on intentional disclosure of nonconsensual intimate visual depictions. It defines "consent" (because, apparently, Congress needs to explain what that means), digital forgery, and identifiable individuals. The law prohibits publishing intimate visual depictions without consent, with exceptions for law enforcement, intelligence agencies, and medical purposes.
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The usual suspects are involved: social media platforms, online service providers, and anyone who's ever taken a selfie. Oh, and the politicians who sponsored this bill will likely receive campaign contributions from tech companies and advocacy groups.
**Potential Impact & Implications:**
* This law will create a new bureaucratic nightmare for online platforms, which will inevitably lead to censorship and over-compliance. * The exceptions for law enforcement and intelligence agencies are ripe for abuse. Expect more surveillance and data collection under the guise of "protecting" citizens. * The medical exception is a Trojan horse for pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers to exploit patient data. * This bill does nothing to address the root causes of online harassment, such as societal misogyny and toxic masculinity. It's just a Band-Aid on a bullet wound.
In conclusion, the TAKE IT DOWN Act is a classic case of legislative theater. It's a feel-good bill that won't actually solve the problem but will create new ones. Politicians get to pretend they care about online safety, while special interest groups reap the benefits. Meanwhile, the rest of us are left with more regulations, censorship, and data exploitation. Just another day in the swamp that is Washington D.C.
Diagnosis: Legislative myopia, symptoms include: grandstanding, bureaucratic overreach, and a healthy dose of ignorance about technology and human nature. Treatment: a strong dose of skepticism and critical thinking. Prognosis: poor.
Rep. Salazar, Maria Elvira [R-FL-27]
Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle
No PAC contributions found
No committee contributions found
This bill has 10 cosponsors. Below are their top campaign contributors.
ID: D000631
Top Contributors
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ID: P000048
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ID: D000624
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ID: B001260
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ID: P000610
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ID: D000594
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ID: C001059
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ID: S000522
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ID: L000590
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ID: K000389
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Hub layout: Politicians in center, donors arranged by type in rings around them.
Showing 50 nodes and 58 connections
Total contributions: $58
Showing top 21 donors by contribution amount
Which industries are materially affected by specific provisions in this bill. 3 harmed.
Section 3(a)(3) requires covered platforms to remove nonconsensual intimate visual depictions within 48 hours of a valid request, imposing operational costs and liability risks on platforms that host user-generated content, such as social media and video-sharing services.
Section 4(b)(3)(B)(i) excludes broadband internet access service providers from the definition of 'covered platform,' but the bill's notice-and-takedown requirements may still affect telecom companies that also operate content-hosting platforms (e.g., AT&T's Warner Bros. Discovery, Verizon's Yahoo), creating compliance burdens.
Section 4(b)(3)(B) excludes online services consisting primarily of preselected content (not user-generated) from 'covered platform' definition, but news outlets with user comment sections or forums may still fall under the rule, requiring them to implement takedown processes for nonconsensual intimate depictions posted by users.
This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document.AI-enhanced analysis provides detailed alignment ratings.
AI Analysis:
"Both the TAKE IT DOWN Act and the Project 2025 FTC policy aim to protect vulnerable individuals—particularly children—from online harms and impose greater responsibility on digital platforms, though the bill focuses on nonconsensual intimate imagery while the policy emphasizes contractual and data‑collection practices affecting minors."
— 875 — Federal Trade Commission Protecting Children Online. The FTC has long protected children in a variety of different contexts. Internet platforms profit from obtaining information from children without parents’ knowledge or consent—and social media’s effect on the well-being of American children is well-documented. Around 2012, American teens experienced a dramatic decline in wellness. Depression, self-harm, suicide attempts, and suicide all increased sharply among U.S. adolescents between 2011 and 2019,16 with similar trends worldwide.17 The increase occurred at the same time that social media use moved from rare to ubiquitous among teens,18 making social media a prime suspect for the sudden rise in mental health issues among teens. In addition, excessive social media use is strongly linked to mental health issues among individuals. Several studies strongly support the notion that social media use is a cause, not just a correlation, of subjective well-being and poor mental health.19 Social media and other large platforms form millions of contracts every year with American children. And even though a minor can void most contracts into which he or she enters, most jurisdictions have laws that hold minors accountable for the benefits received under the contract. Thus, children can make enforceable contracts for which parents could end up bearing responsibility. Targeting chil- dren to create potentially harmful contracts or making parents responsible for such contractual relationships is an unfair trade practice. The FTC, therefore, has the authority, interest, and duty to protect children online from such contractual relationships. l The FTC should examine platforms’ advertising and contract- making with children as a deceptive or unfair trade practice, perhaps requiring written parental consent. Currently, the Child Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)20 regulates the information internet firms can obtain from children. COPPA fails because it (1) only protects children under the age of 13, leaving older teenagers completely unprotected and (2) only prohibits platforms from collecting information from a child using “actual knowledge” rather than abiding by the “constructive knowledge” standard, which prohibits collecting information from a user reasonably assumed to be underage. The FTC has rulemaking authority under this statute but has done little with this authority, nor can it—given the statutory constraints. However, l The FTC can and should institute unfair trade practices proceedings against entities that enter into contracts with children without parental consent. Personal parental responsibility is, of course, key, but the law must respect, not undermine, lawful parental authority.
AI Analysis:
"The TAKE IT DOWN Act addresses nonconsensual distribution of intimate visual depictions, which can affect minors and relates to online harms, aligning broadly with Project 2025's concern about children's well-being online. However, the bill focuses on exploitation and privacy violations rather than the specific contractual and advertising practices targeted by the FTC in the Project 2025 policy."
— 875 — Federal Trade Commission Protecting Children Online. The FTC has long protected children in a variety of different contexts. Internet platforms profit from obtaining information from children without parents’ knowledge or consent—and social media’s effect on the well-being of American children is well-documented. Around 2012, American teens experienced a dramatic decline in wellness. Depression, self-harm, suicide attempts, and suicide all increased sharply among U.S. adolescents between 2011 and 2019,16 with similar trends worldwide.17 The increase occurred at the same time that social media use moved from rare to ubiquitous among teens,18 making social media a prime suspect for the sudden rise in mental health issues among teens. In addition, excessive social media use is strongly linked to mental health issues among individuals. Several studies strongly support the notion that social media use is a cause, not just a correlation, of subjective well-being and poor mental health.19 Social media and other large platforms form millions of contracts every year with American children. And even though a minor can void most contracts into which he or she enters, most jurisdictions have laws that hold minors accountable for the benefits received under the contract. Thus, children can make enforceable contracts for which parents could end up bearing responsibility. Targeting chil- dren to create potentially harmful contracts or making parents responsible for such contractual relationships is an unfair trade practice. The FTC, therefore, has the authority, interest, and duty to protect children online from such contractual relationships. l The FTC should examine platforms’ advertising and contract- making with children as a deceptive or unfair trade practice, perhaps requiring written parental consent. Currently, the Child Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)20 regulates the information internet firms can obtain from children. COPPA fails because it (1) only protects children under the age of 13, leaving older teenagers completely unprotected and (2) only prohibits platforms from collecting information from a child using “actual knowledge” rather than abiding by the “constructive knowledge” standard, which prohibits collecting information from a user reasonably assumed to be underage. The FTC has rulemaking authority under this statute but has done little with this authority, nor can it—given the statutory constraints. However, l The FTC can and should institute unfair trade practices proceedings against entities that enter into contracts with children without parental consent. Personal parental responsibility is, of course, key, but the law must respect, not undermine, lawful parental authority. — 876 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise Other conservatives are more skeptical concerning the effect of online expe- rience on the young, comparing the concern about social media to concern about video games, television, and bicycle safety. They point out, as does Cato fellow Jeffrey A. Singer, that the psychiatric profession has yet to designate “internet addiction” or “social media addiction” as a mental disorder in the authoritative Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR).21 These con- servatives also maintain that calling for regulation undermines conservatives’ calls for parental empowerment on education or vaccines as well as personal parenting responsibility. In addition, some of the methods used to regulate children’s internet access pose the risk of unintended harms. For instance, age verification regulations would inevitably increase the amount of data collection involved, increasing privacy con- cerns. Users would have to submit to platforms proof of their age, which raises the risks of data breach or illegitimate data usage by the platforms or bad actors. Limited-government conservatives would prefer the FTC play an educational role instead. That might include best practices or educational programs to empower parents online. Antitrust Enforcement. As is evidenced by a relentless focus on bringing Big Tech lawsuits, state attorneys general (AGs) are far more responsive to their con- stituents than is the FTC. Such a “boots on the ground” approach would benefit the FTC enormously. Practically, this would mean establishing a distinct role in the FTC Chairman’s office focused on state AG cooperation and inviting state AGs to Washington, D.C., to discuss enforcement policy in key sectors under the FTC’s jurisdiction: Big Tech, hospital mergers, supermarket mergers, and so forth. FTC regional offices are substantially more in touch with local issues. Over the past few decades, the reach and influence of regional offices has shrunk dramati- cally. The FTC should consider returning authority to these offices. Some conservatives however are less supportive of this idea. Conservative enthusiasm for the idea of adding regional FTC offices to the states is a break from the majority conservative position. Endorsing the federal government as a pre- mier job creator runs counter to decades of conservative opinion that holds that New Deal agencies and subsequent government bodies should never have been created in the first place, and that their red tape and interference is a dominant cause of economic inefficiency. Republicans used to seethe when Democrats tried to move federal offices into the states. In the early 1990s, House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich fumed about Senator Robert Byrd’s campaign to transfer certain national intelligence facilities to West Virginia, calling it a “pure abuse of power.” Some contributors to this chapter would remind conservatives that the unseen mechanics of redistribution—by which taxpayer money paid to state employees is taken from taxpayers nationwide—is a drag on the economy of the entire country. Many conservatives fear that it would be impossible to uproot or even prune back
AI Analysis:
"The TAKE IT DOWN Act aligns with Project 2025's focus on reforming Section 230 and increasing accountability for online platforms, particularly regarding harmful content. Both emphasize platform responsibility and user protection, though the bill does not explicitly address political speech discrimination or consumer empowerment tools as highlighted in the policy."
— 849 — Federal Communications Commission Big Tech, and it should look to Section 230 and the Consolidated Reporting Act as potential sources of authority.19 In acting, the FCC could require these platforms to provide greater specificity regarding their terms of service, and it could hold them accountable by prohibiting actions that are inconsistent with those plain and particular terms. Within this framework, Big Tech should be required to offer a transparent appeals process that allows for the challenging of pretextual takedowns or other actions that violate clear rules of the road. l Support legislation that scraps Section 230’s current approach. The FCC should work with Congress on more fundamental Section 230 reforms that go beyond interpreting its current terms. Congress should do so by ensuring that Internet companies no longer have carte blanche to censor protected speech while maintaining their Section 230 protections. As part of those reforms, the FCC should work with Congress to ensure that antidiscrimination provisions are applied to Big Tech—including “back-end” companies that provide hosting services and DDoS protection. Reforms that prohibit discrimination against core political viewpoints are one way to do this and would track the approach taken in a social media law passed in Texas, which was upheld on appeal in late 2022 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.20 In all of this, Congress can make certain points clear. It could focus legislation on dominant, general-use platforms rather than specialized ones. This could include excluding comment sections in online publications, specialized message boards, or communities within larger platforms that self-moderate. Similarly, Congress could legislate in a way that does not require any platform to host illegal content; child pornography; terrorist speech; and indecent, profane, or similar categories of speech that Congress has previously carved out. l Support efforts to empower consumers. The FCC and Congress should work together to formulate rules that empower consumers. Section 230 itself codifies “user control” as an express policy goal and encourages Internet platforms to provide tools that will “empower” users to engage in their own content moderation. As Congress takes up reforms, it should therefore be mindful of how we can return to Internet users the power to control their online experiences. One idea is to empower consumers to choose their own content filters and fact checkers, if any. The FCC should also work with Congress to ensure stronger protections against young children accessing social media sites despite age restrictions that generally prohibit their use of these sites.
Showing 3 of 5 policy matches
Policy matches are calculated using a hybrid approach: initial candidates are found using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text, then an AI model (Llama 3.1 70B) provides detailed alignment ratings and analysis. Ratings range from 1 (minimal alignment) to 5 (very strong alignment). This analysis does not imply direct causation or intent.