WASHINGTON, DC (December 4, 2024) – The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) commended the U.S. Senate for unanimously passing the TAKE IT DOWN Act that criminalizes the act of uploading image-based sexual abuse and mandates its removal within 48 hours.
“Imagine waking up to find sexually explicit images of yourself, shared without consent, for the world to see. This is the devastating reality for one in five Americans. It is an uphill battle for victims to have this sexual abuse removed from websites. The TAKE IT DOWN Act changes this entirely, ensuring that tech platforms remove image-based sexual abuse within 48 hours of receiving a victim’s removal request – this is a life-saving solution for sexual abuse survivors,” said Dawn Hawkins, CEO, National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
“The fight against image-based sexual abuse is a fight for the dignity, privacy, and safety of all individuals. The TAKE IT DOWN Act ensures that tech platforms act swiftly and decisively to combat this insidious form of abuse. And the TAKE IT DOWN Act rightly criminalizes the act of uploading image-based sexual abuse.
“We urge the U.S. House to quickly consider three bills that combat image-based sexual abuse – TAKE IT DOWN Act, DEFIANCE Act, SHIELD Act – and to ensure they become law by the end of the year,” Hawkins said.
For more information about Image-Based Sexual Abuse, click here. For video resources on the TAKE IT DOWN Act, see here and here.
About National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE)
Founded in 1962, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is the leading national non-partisan organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking and the public health harms of pornography. https://endsexualexploitation.org/
