Opinion Pieces by Rob

As a mother and a grandfather, we care deeply about the online safety of America’s children. Advancements in artificial intelligence hold immense potential, but sadly, children are being irreparably harmed online by deepfake exploitation with little to no legal consequences.

Our nation has been addressing bullying for years now. But sharing deepfakes and exploiting nonconsensual intimate imagery goes far beyond bullying. This is criminal behavior that demands swift and decisive action. As the digital world constantly evolves, our laws must, too.

Thankfully, change is on the way.

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the bipartisan Take it Down Act , which would protect our children by enacting stricter penalties for perpetrators of these heinous acts. This bill provides children with the federal protection they deserve. For too long, we’ve lacked clear laws to stop this abuse before it spreads even further. That’s why we are so grateful that the president recently signed it into law.

This new law will allow the prosecution of these criminals with more severe penalties to deter this exploitation from happening again.

In addition to stricter penalties for perpetrators, this bipartisan bill ensures that the websites that host this content are legally obligated to act quickly when victims ask for exploitative content to be taken down. These acts of digital exploitation cause real and lasting trauma for many victims, who are usually women and young girls.

We’re proud that Congress took this important first step in putting guardrails on AI to protect our children — and that we did so through a diverse, bipartisan coalition of lawmakers. As parents and public servants, we worked together to find a commonsense solution to a horrible problem.

First Lady of the United States Melania Trump has been instrumental in raising awareness on this issue and advocating for this bill’s passage.

Members of Congress recently joined her at a roundtable discussion at the White House with victims of online exploitation to hear their troubling stories. The harm caused by deepfakes and nonconsensual intimate imagery exploitation is unimaginable. It is innocent children like those at the roundtable that day who we fight for so that those stories may no longer exist in the future.

As a result of the Take It Down Act, the internet will no longer be a free-for-all when it comes to online abuse, especially when it exploits our children. Our responsibility is to ensure the safety and well-being of so many bright young minds in Virginia’s 1st District and Michigan’s 9th District.

We hope that — thanks to the help of the Take It Down Act — parents can soon rest assured knowing that their children will be safe online and that bad actors will be held accountable.

U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman represents the 1st Congressional District of Virginia, which includes the Historic Triangle, Poquoson, the Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula and part of the Richmond suburbs. He serves as vice chairman of both the House Armed Services Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee.