Tag Archives: Prohibit

House Approves Bills to Prohibit Revenge Porn Sharing and Sends to Trump

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On Monday, the House passed a strongly bipartisan law aimed at criminalizing the non-consensual sharing of sexually explicit photos and videos that include AI-generated imagery, commonly referred to as “deepfakes.”

The legislation, which cleared with a vote of 409 to 2, is expected to be signed by President Trump soon.

Known as the Take It Down Act, this law is designed to combat what is termed “Revenge Porn.” Under its provisions, social media companies and online platforms must remove such images within two days of receiving notification.

The bill saw bipartisan support, uniting conservatives and other parties alike, and it passed the Senate unanimously in February. Trump’s endorsement, highlighted in his joint address to Congress last month, appears to have facilitated its passage.

co-sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, and Democrat Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota, it marks the first significant Internet Content Act to pass Congress since 2018, following prior legislation aimed at combating online sex trafficking. While concentrating on revenge porn and deepfakes, this bill indicates a crucial step towards holding internet companies accountable, which have largely evaded governmental oversight for years.

The strong backing for the Take It Down Act underscores the growing frustration among legislators regarding social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X.

Revenge porn and deepfakes affect individuals of all ages, particularly impacting teenage girls, as the proliferation of “nudification” apps allows boys to secretly create and distribute sexually explicit images of female classmates.

Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican from Florida, introduced a parallel bill in the House and stated on Monday that this legislation aims to prevent the rampant abuse and harassment faced by young girls online.

“Using the likenesses, voices, and images of young, susceptible women to manipulate, coerce, and publicly humiliate them for amusement or revenge is utterly reprehensible,” said Salazar.

Such legislation has been frequently attempted in various states across the nation, and although South Carolina lacks specific laws against revenge porn, at least 20 other states have enacted measures addressing sexually explicit deepfakes.

The measures passed on Monday are part of ongoing bipartisan efforts by lawmakers to tackle deepfake pornography. Cruz and Klobuchar first introduced the bill last year, but it did not advance in a Republican-led House. Reintroduced this year, it gained traction after receiving endorsement from first lady Melania Trump.

Last year, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a younger Democratic congresswoman from New York, proposed legislation enabling individuals depicted in sexually explicit deepfakes to sue creators and distributors of such content. This bill has not been reintroduced this year.

Legislators have recently focused on several bills aimed at safeguarding children from online sexual exploitation, bullying, and harmful algorithms. In January 2024, executives from Meta, TikTok, and other tech firms faced tough questions from lawmakers as they defended their platforms.

During these hearings, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was compelled to apologize to parents who had lost children to online dangers.

However, some advocates for free speech caution that such measures could stifle legitimate expression, arguing that similar laws might inadvertently lead to the removal of both lawful and unlawful content.

“Despite the good intentions, the potentially harmful effects of the bill on constitutional rights to free speech and privacy online cannot be overlooked,” stated Becca Branham, assistant director of the Free Expression Project at the Center for Democracy Technology, a research organization.

Branham also remarked that the Take It Down Act serves as “a potentially weaponized enforcement tool that endangers meaningful progress in the battle against image-based sexual abuse.”

Source: www.nytimes.com

US Congress moves to prohibit TikTok unless it severs connections with China

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TikTok could be banned in the US

Thiago Prudencio/SOPA Images/LightRocket (via Getty Images)

US politicians have voted to ban the popular video-sharing app TikTok unless its owner, the technology company ByteDance, sells it.

US House of Representatives I voted The app restriction bill on March 13th was approved by a vote of 352-65. The bill would require ByteDance, which is headquartered in China but incorporated in the Cayman Islands, to sell TikTok within six months due to concerns about its ties to China. The bill must pass one more vote in the U.S. Senate before it goes to President Joe Biden's desk. previously told reporters He will sign it into law.

Last week, as a smaller committee considered the Protecting Americans from Foreign Regulated Applications Act, TikTok users contacted their public representatives through the app to protest a potential ban. I received a notification reminding me to do so. Despite the flood of messages, lawmakers passed the bill out of committee on March 7 and approved it for a full vote this week.

TikTok enthusiasts aren't the only ones opposed to the bill. “The law that protects Americans from foreign regulatory filings is censorship, plain and simple,” he says. kate luan Member of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a nonprofit organization that advocates for digital rights in the United States. “This is fundamentally flawed and would functionally act as a ban on TikTok in the United States.”

Despite these concerns, there is a bipartisan consensus in the United States that China's ruling Communist Party could force TikTok to hand over user data for behavioral tracking purposes. Although the app is just one of many online services that collect data about users, the U.S. and many other countries have classified TikTok as a “national security threat,” making it a government-owned company owned by public officials. The use of the app on terminals is prohibited. However, no evidence has been presented by any country to support these claims.

TikTok, which operates from offices in the US, UK and elsewhere, has always denied receiving data-sharing requests from the Chinese government and insists it will never hand over user information. However, Chinese law requires all companies operating in China, including ByteDance, to comply with government mandates.

TikTok itself called before The proposed bill violates the “First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans,” the number of app users in the United States. That number also includes many politicians, including Biden, who are debating the fate of TikTok.

tom devon The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, said the controversy surrounding the app was [TikTok’s] It has been shut down over concerns about data collection and surveillance, but it has used its huge audience to profit from its campaigns. ” He is prioritizing political maneuvering over real concerns and risks, such as alienating young voters, who are more likely to use TikTok, and increasing distrust of traditional media. I believe.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

US Congress votes to prohibit TikTok unless it severs connections with China

Posted on by
Reply

TikTok could be banned in the US

Thiago Prudencio/SOPA Images/LightRocket (via Getty Images)

US politicians have voted to ban the popular video-sharing app TikTok unless its owner, the technology company ByteDance, sells it.

US House of Representatives I voted The app restriction bill on March 13th was approved by a vote of 352-65. The bill would require ByteDance, which is headquartered in China but incorporated in the Cayman Islands, to sell TikTok within six months due to concerns about its ties to China. The bill must pass one more vote in the U.S. Senate before it goes to President Joe Biden's desk. previously told reporters He will sign it into law.

Last week, as a smaller committee considered the Protecting Americans from Foreign Regulated Applications Act, TikTok users contacted their public representatives through the app to protest a potential ban. I received a notification reminding me to do so. Despite the flood of messages, lawmakers passed the bill out of committee on March 7 and approved it for a full vote this week.

TikTok enthusiasts aren't the only ones opposed to the bill. “The law that protects Americans from foreign regulatory filings is censorship, plain and simple,” he says. kate luan Member of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a nonprofit organization that advocates for digital rights in the United States. “This is fundamentally flawed and would functionally act as a ban on TikTok in the United States.”

Despite these concerns, there is a bipartisan consensus in the United States that China's ruling Communist Party could force TikTok to hand over user data for behavioral tracking purposes. Although the app is just one of many online services that collect data about users, the U.S. and many other countries have classified TikTok as a “national security threat,” making it a government-owned company owned by public officials. The use of the app on terminals is prohibited. However, no evidence has been presented by any country to support these claims.

TikTok, which operates from offices in the US, UK and elsewhere, has always denied receiving data-sharing requests from the Chinese government and insists it will never hand over user information. However, Chinese law requires all companies operating in China, including ByteDance, to comply with government mandates.

TikTok itself called before The proposed bill violates the “First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans,” the number of app users in the United States. That number also includes many politicians, including Biden, who are debating the fate of TikTok.

tom devon The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, said the controversy surrounding the app was [TikTok’s] It has been shut down over concerns about data collection and surveillance, but it has used its huge audience to profit from its campaigns. ” He is prioritizing political maneuvering over real concerns and risks, such as alienating young voters, who are more likely to use TikTok, and increasing distrust of traditional media. I believe.

topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com