[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7569 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7569
To improve rights to relief for individuals affected by non-consensual
activities involving intimate digital forgeries, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 6, 2024
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez (for herself, Mr. Mike Garcia of California, Ms.
Mace, Mrs. Chavez-DeRemer, Mr. Miller of Ohio, Ms. Wexton, Mr. Raskin,
Ms. Ross, and Mr. Lieu) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve rights to relief for individuals affected by non-consensual
activities involving intimate digital forgeries, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Disrupt Explicit Forged Images And
Non-Consensual Edits Act of 2024'' or as the ``DEFIANCE Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. CIVIL ACTION RELATING TO DISCLOSURE OF INTIMATE IMAGES.
(a) Definitions.--Section 1309(a) of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2022 (15 U.S.C. 6851(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``competent,'' after
``conscious,'';
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as paragraphs
(6) and (7), respectively;
(3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (5);
(4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) Digital forgery.--The term `digital forgery' means
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, including by adapting, modifying,
manipulating, or altering an authentic visual depiction, to
appear to a reasonable person to be indistinguishable from an
authentic visual depiction of the individual, regardless of
whether the visual depiction indicates, through a label or some
other form of information published with the visual depiction,
that the visual depiction is not authentic.'';
(5) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated--
(A) by striking ``(5) DEPICTED'' and inserting
``(5) IDENTIFIABLE''; and
(B) by striking ``depicted individual'' and
inserting ``identifiable individual''; and
(6) in paragraph (6)(A), as so redesignated--
(A) in clause (i), by striking ``; or'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(B) in clause (ii)--
(i) in subclause (I), by striking
``individual;'' and inserting ``individual;
or''; and
(ii) by striking subclause (III); and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(iii) an identifiable individual engaging
in sexually explicit conduct; and''.
(b) Civil Action.--Section 1309(b) of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2022 (15 U.S.C. 6851(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) by striking paragraph (A) and inserting the
following:
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph
(5)--
``(i) an identifiable individual whose
intimate visual depiction is disclosed, in or
affecting interstate or foreign commerce or
using any means or facility of interstate or
foreign commerce, without the consent of the
identifiable individual, where such disclosure
was made by a person who knows or recklessly
disregards that the identifiable individual has
not consented to such disclosure, may bring a
civil action against that person in an
appropriate district court of the United States
for relief as set forth in paragraph (3);
``(ii) an identifiable individual who is
the subject of a digital forgery may bring a
civil action in an appropriate district court
of the United States for relief as set forth in
paragraph (3) against any person that knowingly
produced or possessed the digital forgery with
intent to disclose it, or knowingly disclosed
or solicited the digital forgery, if--
``(I) the identifiable individual
did not consent to such production,
disclosure, solicitation, or
possession;
``(II) the person knew or
recklessly disregarded that the
identifiable individual did not consent
to such production, disclosure,
solicitation, or possession; and
``(III) such production,
disclosure, solicitation, or possession
is in or affects interstate or foreign
commerce or uses any means or facility
of interstate or foreign commerce; and
``(iii) an identifiable individual who is
the subject of a digital forgery may bring a
civil action in an appropriate district court
of the United States for relief as set forth in
paragraph (3) against any person that knowingly
produced the digital forgery if--
``(I) the identifiable individual
did not consent to such production;
``(II) the person knew or
recklessly disregarded that the
identifiable individual did not consent
to such production; and
``(III) such production is in or
affects interstate or foreign commerce
or uses any means or facility of
interstate or foreign commerce.''; and
(B) in subparagraph (B)--
(i) in the heading, by inserting
``IDENTIFIABLE'' before ``INDIVIDUALS''; and
(ii) by striking ``an individual who is
under 18 years of age, incompetent,
incapacitated, or deceased, the legal guardian
of the individual'' and inserting ``an
identifiable individual who is under 18 years
of age, incompetent, incapacitated, or
deceased, the legal guardian of the
identifiable individual'';
(2) in paragraph (2)--
(A) in subparagraph (A)--
(i) by inserting ``identifiable'' before
``individual'';
(ii) by striking ``depiction'' and
inserting ``intimate visual depiction or
digital forgery''; and
(iii) by striking ``distribution'' and
inserting ``disclosure, solicitation, or
possession''; and
(B) in subparagraph (B)--
(i) by inserting ``identifiable'' before
individual;
(ii) by inserting ``or digital forgery''
after each place the term ``depiction''
appears; and
(iii) by inserting ``, solicitation, or
possession'' after ``disclosure'';
(3) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5);
(4) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:
``(3) Relief.--In a civil action filed under this section--
``(A) an identifiable individual may recover the
actual damages sustained by the individual or
liquidated damages in the amount of $150,000, and the
cost of the action, including reasonable attorney's
fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred;
and
``(B) the court may, in addition to any other
relief available at law, order equitable relief,
including a temporary restraining order, a preliminary
injunction, or a permanent injunction ordering the
defendant to cease display or disclosure of the
intimate visual depiction or digital forgery.
``(4) Preservation of privacy.--In a civil action filed
under this section, the court may issue an order to protect the
privacy of a plaintiff, including by--
``(A) permitting the plaintiff to use a pseudonym;
``(B) requiring the parties to redact the personal
identifying information of the plaintiff from any
public filing, or to file such documents under seal;
and
``(C) issuing a protective order for purposes of
discovery, which may include an order indicating that
any intimate visual depiction or digital forgery shall
remain in the care, custody, and control of the
court.'';
(5) in paragraph (5)(A), as so redesignated--
(A) by striking ``image'' and inserting ``visual
depiction or digital forgery''; and
(B) by striking ``depicted'' and inserting
``identifiable''; and
(6) by adding at the end the following:
``(6) Statute of limitations.--Any action commenced under
this section shall be barred unless the complaint is filed not
later than 10 years from the later of--
``(A) the date on which the identifiable individual
reasonably discovers the violation that forms the basis
for the claim; or
``(B) the date on which the identifiable individual
reaches 18 years of age.
``(7) Duplicative recovery barred.--No relief may be
ordered under paragraph (3) against a person who is subject to
a judgment under section 2255 of title 18, United States Code,
for the same conduct involving the same identifiable individual
and the same intimate visual depiction or digital forgery.''.
(c) Continued Applicability of Federal, State, and Tribal Law.--
(1) In general.--This Act shall not be construed to impair,
supersede, or limit a provision of Federal, State, or Tribal
law.
(2) No preemption.--Nothing in this Act shall prohibit a
State or Tribal government from adopting and enforcing a
provision of law governing nonconsensual activity involving a
digital forgery, as defined in section 1309(a) of the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (15 U.S.C. 6851(a)), as
amended by this Act, that is at least as protective of the
rights of a victim as this Act.
SEC. 3. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by this Act, or the
application of such a provision or amendment to any person or
circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remaining provisions
of and amendments made by this Act, and the application of the
provision or amendment held to be unconstitutional to any other person
or circumstance, shall not be affected thereby.
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