S. 3696 - To improve rights to relief for individuals affected by non-consensual activities involving intimate digital forgeries, and for other purposes.

Overview

Title

To improve rights to relief for individuals affected by non-consensual activities involving intimate digital forgeries, and for other purposes.

ELI5 AI

The DEFIANCE Act of 2024 is a rule that helps people if someone changes their pictures in a bad way without asking them first, letting them ask for money to make things right, and providing them help to keep their name secret when they ask for help.

Summary AI

The DEFIANCE Act of 2024 aims to provide rights to relief for individuals affected by intimate digital forgeries, which are digitally altered visuals that closely mimic real images of individuals without their consent. Under this bill, individuals can take legal action against those who create, possess, disclose, or solicit these forgeries, with potential damages of up to $150,000 and the possibility for the court to issue injunctions to stop further misuse. The bill also includes privacy protections during legal proceedings and allows the use of pseudonyms for plaintiffs. It does not override existing state, federal, or tribal laws and sets a statute of limitations of 10 years for filing claims.

Published

2024-01-30

Congress: 118

Session: 2

Chamber: SENATE

Status: Introduced in Senate

Date: 2024-01-30

Package ID: BILLS-118s3696is

Keywords AI

intimate digital forgeries non-consensual activities defiance act of 2024 civil action privacy protections statute of limitations federal state tribal laws pseudonyms in legal proceedings damages up to $150,000 rights to relief

Sources

Bill Text

Bill Metadata

Bill Statistics

Size

Sections:

Words:

1,879

Pages:

Sentences:

Language

Nouns: 395

Verbs: 155

Adjectives: 149

Adverbs: 18

Numbers: 71

Entities: 56

Complexity

Average Token Length:

4.02

Average Sentence Length:

89.48

Token Entropy:

4.88

Readability (ARI):

45.41

AnalysisAI

General Summary of the Bill

The proposed "Disrupt Explicit Forged Images And Non-Consensual Edits Act of 2024," or the DEFIANCE Act of 2024, seeks to provide enhanced legal protections for individuals affected by the unauthorized creation and distribution of intimate digital forgeries. These forgeries involve technologically altered or created intimate images that can appear indistinguishable from genuine ones. The bill provides a framework for victims to pursue civil lawsuits in order to recover damages, and it incorporates a 10-year statute of limitations for filing such actions. Importantly, the legislation operates alongside existing Federal, State, and Tribal laws, intending not to supersede them but to augment protections against digital forgeries.

Summary of Significant Issues

Several significant issues arise with the bill:

Complexity of Definitions: The term "digital forgery" is defined in a verbose and complex manner, potentially requiring legal expertise to fully interpret. This complexity could make it difficult for individuals affected by these forgeries to understand their legal rights and remedies.
Reckless Disregard for Consent: The bill outlines conditions under which someone may be liable for distributing digital forgeries, but the interpretation of "recklessly disregards" in terms of knowing consent is potentially ambiguous. This ambiguity could lead to inconsistent application and outcomes in courts.
Privacy vs. Transparency: Provisions allowing plaintiffs to use pseudonyms and seal documents enhance privacy but may also reduce the transparency of legal proceedings. This approach could raise ethical questions regarding openness and public accountability in the justice system.
Statute of Limitations: The timeframe for initiating civil actions can extend to 10 years after the victim becomes aware of the digital forgery, or after reaching 18 years of age. While intended to protect those who discover forgeries late, this duration may complicate evidence gathering and the fairness of proceedings.
Enforcement Mechanisms: The bill lacks clear mechanisms for enforcing its provisions or ensuring compliance, which might weaken its effectiveness in providing relief for victims.
Jurisdictional Complexity: The bill's interaction with existing Federal, State, and Tribal laws could lead to legal confusion and inconsistencies in protection and enforcement, as these various jurisdictions navigate overlapping legal standards.

Public Impact

Broadly, this bill seeks to address the increasing issue of maliciously created digital forgeries, providing a legal recourse for victims. By establishing civil penalties, the bill could deter potential perpetrators and provide victims with a means to pursue justice. However, the complexity of the bill might pose challenges, notably for those without easy access to legal resources or representation.

Impact on Stakeholders

Victims of Digital Forgeries: The primary beneficiaries, victims, would gain new avenues for legal recourse, potentially resulting in financial compensation and protective court orders. However, the complexity and potential need for legal interpretation might limit accessibility for individuals without legal support.

Legal Professionals: Attorneys and judges will need to navigate complex definitions and ambiguous terms, possibly resulting in varied interpretations in court. The legal community will play a crucial role in clarifying and standardizing the application of this legislation.

Technology Companies: Those involved in platforms or software that might inadvertently facilitate the creation or sharing of digital forgeries could face increased scrutiny and legal responsibilities. This may encourage stronger moderation and protective policies.

Privacy Advocates: Advocates may be divided between applauding the enhanced privacy protections built into the bill and expressing concern over the potential reduction in transparency during legal proceedings.

Conclusion

The DEFIANCE Act represents a significant legislative effort to address the challenges posed by intimate digital forgeries. While it proposes important protections for victims, the bill's complexity and potential for inconsistent interpretations could pose hurdles in implementation and impact. Stakeholders from victims to digital platforms will need to navigate these intricacies, highlighting the importance of further public education and support as the law evolves.

Financial Assessment

The DEFIANCE Act of 2024 focuses on providing legal recourse for individuals affected by the non-consensual use of intimate digital forgeries. While the bill covers various legal and procedural elements to address this issue, there is a specific reference to financial compensation for affected individuals.

Financial Aspects of the Bill

Relief and Damages

The bill allows identifiable individuals affected by digital forgeries to seek financial compensation through civil actions. Specifically, the legislation enables these individuals to recover either the actual damages sustained or liquidated damages in the amount of $150,000. Furthermore, it includes coverage for the cost of the legal action, such as reasonable attorney's fees and other litigation costs that are reasonably incurred. This financial provision aims to support victims who pursue legal action, potentially reducing the financial burden of litigation.

Relation to Identified Issues

Accessibility and Understanding

One of the issues highlighted is the complexity of the bill's language, particularly in defining "digital forgery," which might confuse laypersons. While the bill establishes financial relief mechanisms, the complexity could deter individuals from pursuing legal action, potentially impacting the financial compensation that victims may be entitled to receive.

Privacy and Transparency

The provision for privacy in legal proceedings, allowing plaintiffs to use pseudonyms and file under seal, while important for personal protection, might obscure public awareness of case outcomes. The financial implications might not be fully visible or understood by the public, potentially affecting broader understanding and application of the $150,000 liquidated damages clause due to reduced transparency.

Statute of Limitations

The statute of limitations in the bill allows individuals to file complaints up to 10 years after discovering the violation or after reaching the age of majority. This provision is notably lengthy, potentially complicating the gathering of evidence. As time passes, financial claims like actual damages may become harder to substantiate, potentially influencing how effectively victims can seek and receive the stipulated financial relief.

Enforcement Challenges

The bill does not explicitly outline mechanisms for enforcement and compliance checks. Without clear guidelines for enforcement, the provision for financial compensation could be less effective, as victims may face challenges in proving their case or collecting the awarded damages. This gap could undermine the bill's potential financial relief outcomes and overall effectiveness in protecting individuals from digital forgery harassment.

In summary, while the DEFIANCE Act of 2024 includes significant financial provisions intended to aid victims, these measures' effectiveness may be influenced by the bill's complexity, enforcement challenges, and the potentially broad statute of limitations.

Issues

Section 2: The definition of 'digital forgery' is lengthy and complex, potentially making it difficult for laypersons to understand without legal guidance. This could pose challenges in legal proceedings for affected individuals.
Section 2: The ambiguity surrounding 'recklessly disregards' in relation to knowing consent could lead to inconsistent interpretations in legal proceedings, affecting the outcomes of cases involving digital forgeries.
Section 2: The provision allowing the use of pseudonyms and sealing of documents for privacy preservation might limit the transparency of legal proceedings, raising ethical concerns about openness in legal processes.
Section 2: The statute of limitations allows complaints to be filed up to 10 years after discovery or reaching the age of majority. This lengthy period could complicate the evidence gathering process, impacting the effectiveness and fairness of the legislation.
Section 2: The lack of explicit mechanisms for enforcement and compliance checks for these civil actions could undermine the legislation's ability to effectively protect affected individuals and enforce penalties.
Section 2: The interaction between federal, state, and tribal laws, as mentioned in 'Continued applicability of Federal, State, and Tribal law', could lead to complex legal conflicts, causing confusion and inconsistent protection for victims.

Sections

Sections are presented as they are annotated in the original legislative text. Any missing headers, numbers, or non-consecutive order is due to the original text.

1. Short title Read Opens in new tab

Summary AI

The first section of the bill gives the short title, allowing it to be referred to as the “Disrupt Explicit Forged Images And Non-Consensual Edits Act of 2024” or simply the “DEFIANCE Act of 2024”.

2. Civil action relating to disclosure of intimate images Read Opens in new tab

Summary AI

The bill section explains the rules for civil lawsuits regarding the nonconsensual sharing of intimate images or digitally altered pictures (called digital forgeries). It allows victims to seek damages, sets a 10-year time limit to file a case, and ensures federal, state, and tribal laws still apply without being overridden.

Money References

(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.

3. Severability Read Opens in new tab

Summary AI

If any part of this Act or its amendments is found to be unconstitutional, the rest of the Act and its amendments will still remain in effect and apply to other people and situations.