The Take It Down Act's 48-hour deepfake removal requirement takes effect on May 19th, 2026, with experts warning it could enable censorship despite backing from major platforms.

The Take It Down Act, signed by President Donald Trump in May 2024, criminalized distributing nonconsensual intimate imagery (NCII) in real or AI-generated form. Its takedown provision now requires online platforms to remove such content within 48 hours or face civil penalties of more than $53,000 per violation, effective May 19th, 2026.

The Federal Trade Commission sent letters to over a dozen companies—including Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Automattic, Bumble, Discord, Match Group, Meta, Microsoft, Pinterest, Reddit, SmugMug, Snapchat, TikTok and X—instructing them to offer users an easy takedown request process and remove offending content and 'known identical copies' within 48 hours.

Free speech advocates and online abuse opponents, including Mary Anne Franks (president of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative), warn that even good-faith enforcement could encourage over-moderation of non-offending content, and that under the Trump administration the law could be weaponized against political enemies or unpopular platforms while giving favored companies a pass.