Trump signs bill combating deepfakes and revenge porn

US President Donald Trump has signed a bill into law that makes posting so-called "revenge porn" and deepfake explicit content illegal.

The Take It Down Act criminalises posting "intimate images" - real or AI-generated - online without an individual's consent and requires technology companies to remove the content within 48 hours.

While the bill has received strong bipartisan support, some digital rights groups say it's too broad and could lead to censorship.

The bill is the sixth piece of legislation Trump has signed in his second term, with the president often preferring to enact his agenda through Executive Orders.

The president signed the bill on Monday afternoon at a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, after it was passed by both houses of Congress.

He was accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, who White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt previously said was "instrumental" in getting the bill through Congress.

It cleared the lower chamber of Congress in a 409-2 vote at the end of April, and was unanimously passed by the Senate in February.

Melania Trump has championed the bill since her husband began his second term.

In March, she used her first solo public appearance to urge members of Congress to pass the bill.

"It's heartbreaking to witness young teens, especially girls, grappling with the overwhelming challenges posed by malicious online content, like deepfakes," the first lady said during a roundtable discussing the bill on 3 March.

"In an era where digital interaction are integral to daily life, it is imperative that we safeguard children from mean-spirited and hurtful online behaviour."

Revenge porn is sharing an intimate image without consent. Deepfake porn involves creating, often using AI, a fake explicit image or video of a person.

Use of the technology has grown in recent years, allowing users to add the faces of celebrities or public figures - most often women - into pornographic films.

Tech companies including Meta, TikTok and Google supported the legislation. But it's not without critics.

Advocates for digital rights and free speech say it could lead to the censorship of legitimate content, including legal pornography, LGBTQ+ content, and government criticism.

"While protecting victims of these heinous privacy invasions is a legitimate goal, good intentions alone are not enough to make good policy," digital rights advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation said.

"As currently drafted, the Act mandates a notice-and-takedown system that threatens free expression, user privacy, and due process, without addressing the problem it claims to solve."

The Internet Society, which advocates for digital privacy on the internet, says it poses "unacceptable risks to users' fundamental privacy rights and cybersecurity by undermining encryption".