DEFIANCE Act of 2024
Latest action. Held at the desk.
Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act of 2024 or the DEFIANCE Act of 2024
This bill establishes a civil cause of action for individuals who are the subject of nonconsensual digital forgeries (commonly known as deepfakes) depicting intimate activity or nudity.
Under the bill, digital forgery is any intimate visual depiction of an identifiable individual created through the use of software, machine learning, artificial intelligence, or any other computer-generated or technological means that is indistinguishable from an authentic visual depiction of the individual.
Specifically, an identifiable individual who is the subject of a digital forgery may bring a civil action against any person who knowingly produces, distributes, solicits, or possesses with the intent to distribute a digital forgery without the individual's consent.
Current law provides civil remedies, including damages and injunctive relief, for the nonconsensual disclosure of intimate images. This bill makes all relief available for the new cause of action for nonconsensual digital forgeries and expands the relief available for both causes of action. For example, an identifiable individual may recover profits of the defendant that are attributable to the conduct at issue in the claim as part of actual damages.
The bill also establishes a 10-year statute of limitations, but tolls the running of the statute of limitations until the individual learns about the violation or the individual turns 18, whichever occurs later. This applies to both current law related to nonconsensual disclosure of intimate images and the new cause of action for nonconsensual digital forgeries.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed Senate" stage on July 23, 2024. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Held at the desk.
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Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
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The record's latest action, on July 24, 2024: Held at the desk.
How likely is it to become law?
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In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one has no outstanding steps listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Richard Durbin (D-IL) introduced it on January 30, 2024, and 8 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 4 Democrats, 3 Republicans, 1 independent.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on January 30, 2024, 954 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 778 days ago, on July 24, 2024.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 118th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2025 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateHeld at the desk.
- HouseNot stated in the latest action
- PresidentNot stated in the latest action