First Lady Melania Trump used her first major public appearance to call for stronger protections against online abuse, advocating for legislation targeting deepfake and revenge pornography while criticizing Democrats for their absence at the discussion.
What Happened: Speaking at a Capitol Hill roundtable on Monday, Trump reaffirmed her commitment to online safety through her revived "Be Best" initiative, calling on lawmakers to pass the "TAKE IT DOWN" Act, reported CNN.
The bipartisan bill, led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), criminalizes the distribution of nonconsensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated deepfake pornography, and mandates swift removal processes from social media platforms.
"In an era where digital interactions are integral to daily life, it is imperative that we safeguard children from mean-spirited and hurtful online behavior," Trump said.
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She shared the story of Elliston Berry, a 15-year-old Texas teen whose image was manipulated into explicit content and circulated online. Berry and her family will be guests at President Donald Trump's upcoming address to Congress.
The first lady also took a swipe at Democrats for largely skipping the discussion, stating, "I expected to see more Democrat leaders with us here today to address this serious issue."
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Why It’s Important: Over the past year, AI-generated, nonconsensual pornographic images have targeted a wide range of victims. These include high-profile figures like Taylor Swift and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The voice alteration of former President Joe Biden last year also generated an uproar.
In January 2025, the U.K. government said that in Britain, producing and distributing sexually explicit “deepfakes” will be classified as a criminal offense.
In August 2024, Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google said it implemented some online safety tools to make removing explicit deepfakes from Search easier and reduce their visibility in search rankings.
Meta Platform, Inc.’s META Bullying and Harassment policy bans “derogatory sexualized photoshop or drawings” on its platforms.
However, dozens of explicit, AI-generated images of celebrities like Ariana Grande, Scarlett Johansson, and Maria Sharapova circulated widely on Facebook last month. These posts received hundreds of thousands of likes and reshares before Meta eventually took them down, reported CBS.
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