YourVoice.Now Summary
Your MoneyCivil LibertiesPeople shown in fake sexual images could sue for $150,000 or more — and have the images deleted.
Your Money
You can ask for a flat $150,000 instead of proving what the harm cost you. It goes to $250,000 when the images are tied to sexual assault, stalking, or harassment.
Punitive damages are extra money a court orders to punish bad conduct. They come on top of what repays the victim, and they cover leaked real photos as well as fakes.
If someone made money off the images, that money counts toward what you can recover. You only have to show their total sales, and they must prove any costs to subtract.
Victims who win can get back reasonable attorney fees and other court costs. That lowers the risk of paying out of pocket to bring a case.
A victim may already have won a court award over the same images in another case. This bill bars a second award against that same person for the same acts.
Civil Liberties
Existing law lets people sue when real intimate photos are shared without consent. This bill adds the same right when the image is a realistic fake made with software or AI.
The new claim reaches anyone who made the image, shared it, kept it planning to share, or asked for and received it. The person must have known, or ignored clear signs, that you did not agree.
Some fake images carry a note saying they are not real. The bill says that note does not block a lawsuit.
A judge can order the images deleted or destroyed. A judge can also order someone to stop showing them while the case is still going.
A court can let you file under a made-up name, so your real name stays out of public records. It can also seal documents and keep the images in the court's own hands.
The 10 years run from the day you reasonably find out about the image. If you were a child, the clock instead starts at 18, whichever date comes later.
More about this bill
If someone makes a realistic fake sexual image of you, you could sue them in federal court. The image counts even when a label says it is fake. You could also sue people who shared it, kept it to share, or asked for and received it. Victims could collect a flat $150,000, or $250,000 when the images are tied to sexual assault, stalking, or harassment. A judge could order the images deleted. The same stronger payouts would also cover real intimate photos shared without consent. You would have 10 years to sue. The clock starts when you learn of the image, or when you turn 18. The Senate passed this bill in January 2026, so it is not law yet.
Congressional Summary
Disrupt Explicit Forged Images And Non-Consensual Edits Act of 2025 or the DEFIANCE Act of 2025This bill expands civil remedies for the nonconsensual disclosure of intimate images (i.e., nonconsensual pornography). The bill also establishes a new federal civil action for nonconsensual conduct involving intimate digital forgeries (i.e., deepfakes). The term intimate digital forgery means any intimate visual depiction of an identifiable individual created using software, machine learning, artificial intelligence, or other computer-generated or technological means that looks authentic.With respect to the nonconsensual disclosure of intimate images, current law allows an identifiable individual to recover civil remedies, including litigation costs, damages, and injunctive relief. This bill increases the available damages by allowing the individual to recover punitive damages and by including, as part of actual damages, profits of the defendant that are attributable to the conduct at issue.The bill also allows an identifiable individual who is the subject of an intimate digital forgery to file a federal civil action against anyone who knowingly discloses, produces or possesses with intent to disclose, or solicits and receives the intimate digital forgery without the individual's consent. Under the bill, the identifiable individual may recover the same expanded civil remedies that are available for the nonconsensual disclosure of intimate images.Finally, the bill establishes a 10-year statute of limitations for filing civil actions involving nonconsensual intimate digital forgeries or nonconsensual disclosure of intimate images. The statute begins to run when the individual discovers the violation or turns 18, whichever is later.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Passed Senate
- Action Date
- 2026-01-13
- Date Added
- 2026-07-07
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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