Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata is commending passage by both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives of the Take It Down Act, S. 146, which has been sent to President Trump to be signed into law. The Act combats non-consensual explicit imagery of people, created by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other visual technology, which can be misused to humiliate or monetarily exploit people without their permission, consent, or in some cases their knowledge of their imagery online.

“While these tragic cases have not happened in American Samoa, they have happened in other places, and the pictures can be mistaken as real, or used terribly against a person,” said Congresswoman Aumua Amata. “Congress acted in bipartisan unity to stop this problem before it grows out of control, give law enforcement the means to prevent and prosecute it, and require when unlawful images of specific people are found, that companies ‘take it down’.”

The effort, which included unanimous consent in the Senate, was a priority spearheaded by First Lady Melania Trump, who advocated for this protection.

Specifically, the bill criminalizes the publication of non-consensual intimate images (“NCII”) or the threat to publish NCII in interstate commerce. The bill requires covered internet platforms to establish and implement a notice and takedown process within one year of enactment.