If it's your face, it's your fight.
Most synthetic-media harm is interpersonal — harassment, image-based abuse, fraud against family. The legal terrain has moved significantly since 2024: federal civil and criminal remedies exist, platform takedown is a 48-hour obligation, and several free hash-based services will pull content for you. This is the practical map.
You will probably do worse than you expect.
That is the point. In Groh et al.'s n = 15,016 PNAS study (2022), individual untrained observers tracked the leading automated detector at ~65% on a curated holdout set; crowds of multiple observers averaged ~74–80%. Trained reviewers do better. Run the module — the goal isn't a high score, it's knowing your floor.
References: Groh et al., PNAS 2022 · Rössler et al., FaceForensics++ ICCV 2019
Four places the model is likeliest to leak.
Every signal below is necessary, none is sufficient. Treat them as triggers to verify, not proofs.
U.S. legal posture, 2026.
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PENDING
DEFIANCE Act — proposed federal civil remedy (still a bill)
Status: Senate-passed, House-stalled. S.3696 (118th Cong.) passed the Senate by unanimous consent on 23 July 2024 but did not pass the House before the 118th Congress expired. Reintroduced as S.1837 (119th Cong.) and passed the Senate again by unanimous consent in January 2026. Still has not passed the House and is not federal law. If enacted, it would create a federal civil cause of action for adults depicted in non-consensual intimate digital forgeries — defined as any intimate visual depiction created by AI/computer means that, viewed as a whole, is indistinguishable from authentic — with liquidated damages of $150,000 ($250,000 with aggravating factors) and a 10-year statute of limitations. Current bill text (S.1837) · Prior version (S.3696).
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2025
TAKE IT DOWN Act — federal criminal + 48-hour platform obligation
S.146 (119th Congress). Signed into law 19 May 2025. Criminalises knowingly publishing non-consensual intimate visual depictions of minors or non-consenting adults — including deepfakes — and obligates covered platforms to remove such content within 48 hours of a valid report. Platforms had one year (to 19 May 2026) to set up the notice-and-removal process. Bill page.
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2024
FCC ruling — AI voices in robocalls subject to TCPA
FCC Declaratory Ruling 24-17 (8 February 2024) confirmed AI-generated voice calls fall within the TCPA's restrictions on “artificial or prerecorded voice” calls. Effective immediately on adoption. FCC order PDF.
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2025
State coverage — uneven, but accelerating
By mid-2025, roughly 30 U.S. states had specific deepfake non-consensual-intimate-imagery statutes; nearly all states had broader NCII laws applicable to AI content; and approximately 45 states had criminalised AI-generated CSAM. Penalties range from misdemeanour to felony with multi-year prison terms and fines up to $30,000. State definitions vary; not every older NCII law clearly covers AI-generated content. See the National Conference of State Legislatures' 2024 deepfake legislation tracker and Public Citizen's state intimate-deepfakes tracker.
A reporting workflow, in order.
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01
Preserve evidence — first.
Archive each URL at archive.org with a wayback timestamp. Screenshot with the system clock visible. Save originals before deletion. Record platform handles, post IDs, and dates. Do not contact the perpetrator before consulting counsel.
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02
Hash and submit for proactive removal.
If you are 18+, use StopNCII.org — your image is hashed locally on your device, only the hash is shared, participating platforms (Meta, TikTok, Reddit, Bumble, Snap, X, OnlyFans, and others) match against it. If the imagery was captured when you were under 18, use NCMEC Take It Down, which uses the same hash mechanism for minors.
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03
File on the platform — under multiple categories.
Cite the platform's synthetic-media or non-consensual-intimate-imagery policy explicitly. Where you hold copyright in any underlying image used in the deepfake, also file a DMCA copyright report — Qiwei et al. (2024, arXiv:2409.12138) found that on at least one major platform, copyright reports yielded 100% removal within 25 hours, while non-consensual-nudity reports yielded 0% over three weeks. File under both routes if you can.
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04
Law enforcement — where applicable.
If imagery is sexual or shows a minor: tips.fbi.gov or local law enforcement. If voice-clone or financial fraud is involved: IC3 (FBI). The Cyber Civil Rights Initiative's Safety Center is a free resource for survivors.
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05
Document the impact — for any future civil claim.
If DEFIANCE becomes federal law, it would provide a 10-year statute of limitations and liquidated damages of $150,000+. The bill has passed the Senate twice (2024, 2026) but has not cleared the House. State NCII / right-of-publicity / IIED claims may be available now in your jurisdiction. Track therapy costs, lost income, and other documented harms. Consult a lawyer with experience in image-based abuse before filing — many will take these on contingency.
Eight verified sources for this page.
- 001United States Senate (2026). S.1837 — DEFIANCE Act of 2025. 119th Congress (current). Predecessor: S.3696 (118th Cong., passed Senate 23 July 2024, did not pass House).
- 002United States Senate (2025). S.146 — TAKE IT DOWN Act. 119th Congress.
- 003Federal Communications Commission (2024). Declaratory Ruling FCC 24-17 — AI voices subject to TCPA. 8 February 2024.
- 004Qiwei, L. et al. (2024). Reporting Non-Consensual Intimate Media: An Audit Study of Deepfakes. arXiv preprint.
- 005Groh, M., Epstein, Z., Firestone, C., Picard, R. (2022). Deepfake detection by human crowds, machines, and machine-informed crowds. PNAS.
- 006National Conference of State Legislatures (2024). Deceptive Audio or Visual Media (Deepfakes) — 2024 Legislation.
- 007Public Citizen (2024–25). Tracker: State Legislation on Intimate Deepfakes.
- 008Wang, J., Tondi, B., Barni, M. (2022). An Eyes-Based Siamese Neural Network for the Detection of GAN-Generated Face Images. Frontiers in Signal Processing.
Safety Suite FAQ.
What is the DEFIANCE Act, and is it law?
The DEFIANCE Act (Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act) is a pending federal bill, not enacted law. It would create a federal civil cause of action for adults depicted in non-consensual intimate digital forgeries — liquidated damages of $150,000 ($250,000 with aggravating factors), 10-year statute of limitations. S.3696 (118th Cong.) passed the Senate by unanimous consent on 23 July 2024 but did not pass the House before the Congress expired. Reintroduced as S.1837 (119th Cong.) and passed the Senate again by unanimous consent in January 2026 — still pending in the House.
What does the TAKE IT DOWN Act require?
The TAKE IT DOWN Act (S.146, 119th Congress) was signed into law on 19 May 2025. It criminalises knowingly publishing non-consensual intimate visual depictions of minors or non-consenting adults — including deepfakes — and requires covered platforms to provide a notice-and-removal process that takes content down within 48 hours of a valid report.
What is the fastest way to get a deepfake of me removed?
If you're 18 or over, hash the image at StopNCII.org — your file never leaves your device, and the hash is shared with participating platforms. If the imagery was taken when you were under 18, use NCMEC Take It Down. A peer-reviewed audit (Qiwei et al., 2024) also found that copyright-based DMCA reports yielded faster removal than non-consensual-nudity reports on at least one major platform; file under both routes if applicable.
Where do I report a synthetic-media abuse incident?
(1) StopNCII.org or NCMEC Take It Down for hash-based platform takedown. (2) The platform's own reporting flow, citing its synthetic-media policy explicitly. (3) For sexual or minor-involving content, FBI tips.fbi.gov. (4) For voice-clone or financial-fraud variants, FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. (5) For any future civil claim — under existing state NCII / right-of-publicity / IIED law, or under DEFIANCE if and when it becomes federal law — preserve evidence and consult a lawyer before contacting the perpetrator.
How accurate are humans at detecting deepfakes?
It depends on the specific test set, the specific generator, and whether observers work alone or in crowds. The largest published study — Groh et al. (PNAS 2022), n = 15,016 — found, on its curated holdout set: leading automated detector ~65% accuracy; recruited crowds (multiple observers averaged) ~74%; non-recruited crowds ~80%; individual untrained observers tracked the model. So crowds beat individuals; trained reviewers do better still; but a single untrained viewer should not assume better-than-model performance without forensic tooling.
Does my state have a deepfake law?
Probably yes for some scenario, but coverage is uneven. By mid-2025, roughly 30 states had specific deepfake-NCII statutes, nearly all states had broader NCII laws that may apply to AI content, and approximately 45 states had criminalised AI-generated CSAM. See the NCSL tracker or Public Citizen's tracker for the current state of your jurisdiction.