The scary, disturbing reality of America has arrived

A law requiring social media sites to quickly remove sexual content and other inappropriate images is now in effect. But experts warn that the policy won’t help the minority affected — and at worst, could improve online censorship.

Last May, President Donald Trump signed the Take It Down Act, a law that covers non-consensual intimate partner images (NCII). This law immediately made the distribution of NCII, whether it was real or generated by AI, something many countries at least a little to do already. But the removal of his names is greater. Going into effect a year after the law was passed – on May 19th 2026 – it requires online platforms to remove NCII within 48 hours or face a fine.

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson he sent letters to more than a dozen companies Before the deadline, the list that the FTC said is Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Automattic, Bumble, Discord, Match Group, Meta, Microsoft, Pinterest, Reddit, SmugMug, Snapchat, TikTok and X. It advised the platform to provide users with an easy way to remove and remove the offending within 48 hours. The agency, which is responsible for enforcing the law, has reminded companies that if they violate the law they can be fined more than $53,000 per violation.

Major platforms including Meta, Microsoft, Google, TikTok, and Snap he supported the billand showed that he was confident that he would be able to obey. Snap said in a blog post last year that “it is in line with the fulfillment of our ongoing efforts.” Spokesperson Monique Bellamy said Seaside that it continues to “evolve” security practices, “including the use of tools and technologies to detect and act on illegal pornography and similar images.”

Meta’s director of women’s safety, Cindy Southworth, said the company “has been fighting against serious abuse on our platforms,” ​​including removal, support for the creation of hand-held devices, and accusing AI programmers of “nudifying”. who breaks his rules. Southworth added that the company’s devices are trained to resist nudity requests. “We continue to support the TAKE IT DOWN Act, an important step in the fight against cyberbullying, and have been listening to it for months.” TikTok US spokesperson Mahsau Cullinane said the company has a policy of compliance with NCII, and pointed to its partnership with NCMEC and StopNCII.org; the company offers now appearance and internal software tools for reporting.

Even X, which has a pretty good reputation for having sexist AI images, has supported the law. A reputable company agreed Taylor Swift’s deep AI porn spread in 2024, then weeks later and a Videos users believe are from rapper Drake to have sex. Recently, users called on its integrated AI chatbot Grok to undress users, often without their consent. New York Times article analysis found that in just nine days, Grok shared “at least 1.8 million pornographic images of women,” although some estimates were higher.

But the repeal of the law has alarmed both free speech and online critics — including people who have supported their own terrorist organization. Even if enforced in good faith, takedown laws can encourage companies to cut back on non-infringing products to reduce risk. Under the Trump administration, the Take It Down Act could also to be a weapon against political opponents while providing platforms in favor of Trump. The president laughed at him 2025 State of the Union that “I will use the money for myself,” because “no one is treated worse than I am on the Internet.” X who was the CEO of Linda Yaccarino attended the signing ceremonywhile Trump – whose leadership at the time employed CEO Elon Musk – praised him for “doing a great job.”

Trump’s statement “is the opposite of the truth,” said Mary Anne Franks, president of the Cyber ​​Civil Rights Initiative, which advocates for policies to combat sexual and graphic violence. It made him question whether the law would be enforced fairly, as Trump’s State of the Union described it. “It’s a strange thing to say, and it’s a declaration from the top that this law will not be used systematically, but to end human activity,” he says.

Franks is “questionable” as to why major tech platforms, which often oppose new laws as a burden on free speech, have accepted the law. “My fear about this, and I hope I’m wrong, is that the reason companies aren’t angry about this is because they know it won’t be used against them,” he says. This alone would cause the law to offer false hope to victims of NCII.

But Franks worries that the law could be used against platforms that regulators see as a thorn in its side, such as Wikipedia. “I think the worst thing that can happen is, it becomes like a tiger against the companies that are doing the worst and it becomes a way to punish and go after platforms that are unpleasant and restrict speech,” says Franks. Those words can include LGBTQ+ words, especially if gender identity care for transgender youth is already being targeted by the FTC. Franks said: “I’m worried that this will be used as a reason to want to interfere more with issues that show casual sex, or especially with issues of teaching children who identify as male or female or who just want to have sex,” said Franks. Even if the court rules that it is unconstitutional, it can send a clear message to the platforms about how to operate.

Other groups, including a Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)and Cato Instituteand Public Noticewarned that the notices and removals could have far-reaching consequences for speech, with the EFF calling it a tactic of “suppression and censorship.”

Meanwhile, the law maybe not even covered which can be seen as a violation of the digital rigidity of the license. Some of Grok’s non-sexual images, for example, may not be considered sexual enough. It’s unclear whether AI tools like Grok count as NCII “producers” whose owners could be held liable, and if the images were created in secret, it’s unclear whether they should be declassified, either.
In the first year of its establishment, the Department of Justice it said it was used The Take It Down Act’s ruling is based on one conviction of an Ohio man who released a sexual AI to harass his victims. The impact of the discount can be felt immediately – but the question is whether these results will make the internet safer.