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Congressional Daily Record
This section is about changes proposed to a bill or resolution. It mentions members such as Richard Joseph Durbin.
Issued
June 24, 2026
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Download official Senate Record PDFReturn to issue contextSA 6162. Mr. DURBIN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
TITLE —DISRUPT EXPLICIT FORGED IMAGES AND NON-CONSENSUAL EDITS
ACT OF 2026
SEC. 01. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the “Disrupt Explicit Forged
Images And Non-Consensual Edits Act of 2026” or the
“DEFIANCE Act of 2026”.
SEC. 02. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Digital forgeries, often called deepfakes, are
synthetic images and videos that look realistic. The
technology to create digital forgeries is now ubiquitous and
easy to use. Hundreds of apps are available that can quickly
generate digital forgeries without the need for any technical
expertise.
(2) Digital forgeries can be wholly fictitious but can also
manipulate images of real people to depict sexually intimate
conduct that did not occur. For example, some digital
forgeries will paste the face of an individual onto the body
of a real or fictitious individual who is nude or who is
engaging in sexual activity. Another example is a photograph
of an individual that is manipulated to digitally remove the
clothing of the individual so that the person appears to be
nude.
(3) The individuals depicted in such digital forgeries are
profoundly harmed when the content is produced with intent to
disclose, disclosed, or obtained without the consent of those
individuals. These harms are not mitigated through labels or
other information that indicates that the depiction is fake.
(4) It can be destabilizing to victims whenever those
victims are depicted in intimate digital forgeries against
their will, as the privacy of those victims is violated and
the victims lose control over their likeness and identity.
(5) Victims can feel helpless because the victims—
(A) may not be able to determine who has created the
content; and
(B) do not know how to prevent further disclosure of the
intimate digital forgery or how to prevent more forgeries
from being made.
(6) Victims may be fearful of being in public out of
concern that individuals the victims encounter have seen the
digital forgeries. This leads to social rupture through the
loss of the ability to trust, stigmatization, and isolation.
(7) Victims of non-consensual, sexually intimate digital
forgeries may experience depression, anxiety, and suicidal
ideation. These victims may also experience the “silencing
effect” in which the victims withdraw from online spaces and
public discourse to avoid further abuse.
(8) Digital forgeries are often used to—
(A) harass victims, interfering with their employment,
education, reputation, or sense of safety; or
(B) commit extortion, sexual assault, domestic violence,
and other crimes.
(9) Because of the harms caused by non-consensual, sexually
intimate digital forgeries, such digital forgeries are
considered to be a form of image-based sexual abuse.
SEC. 03. CIVIL ACTION RELATING TO DISCLOSURE OF INTIMATE
IMAGES.
(a) Definitions.—Section 1309 of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2022 (15 U.S.C. 6851) is amended—
(1) in the section heading, by inserting “or nonconsensual
activity involving digital forgeries” after “intimate
images”; and
(2) in subsection (a)—
(A) in paragraph (2), by inserting “competent,” after
“conscious,”;
(B) by striking paragraph (3);
(C) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (3);
(D) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as paragraphs
(6) and (7), respectively;
(E) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
“(4) Identifiable individual.—The term `identifiable
individual' means an individual whose body appears in whole
or in part in an intimate visual depiction or intimate
digital forgery and who is identifiable by virtue of the
individual's face, likeness, or other distinguishing
characteristic, such as a unique birthmark or other
recognizable feature, or from information displayed in
connection with the intimate visual depiction or intimate
digital forgery.
“(5) Intimate digital forgery.—
“(A) In general.—The term `intimate digital forgery'
means any intimate visual depiction of an identifiable
individual that—
“(i) falsely represents, in whole or in part—
“(I) the identifiable individual; or
“(II) the conduct or content that makes the visual
depiction intimate;
“(ii) is 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; and
“(iii) is indistinguishable from an authentic visual
depiction of the identifiable individual when viewed as a
whole by a reasonable person.
“(B) Labels, disclosure, and context.—Any visual
depiction described in subparagraph (A) constitutes an
intimate digital forgery for purposes of this paragraph
regardless of whether a label, information disclosed with the
visual depiction, or the context or setting in which the
visual depiction is disclosed states or implies that the
visual depiction is not authentic.”; and
(F) in paragraph (6)(A), as so redesignated—
(i) in clause (i), by striking “or” at the end;
(ii) in clause (ii)—
(I) in subclause (I), by striking “individual;” and
inserting “individual; or”; and
(II) by striking subclause (III); and
(iii) 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 subparagraph (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 an
intimate 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 intimate digital forgery with
intent to disclose it, knowingly disclosed the intimate
digital forgery, or knowingly solicited and received the
intimate digital forgery, if—
“(I) the identifiable individual did not consent to such
production or possession with intent to disclose, disclosure,
or solicitation and receipt;
“(II) the person knew or recklessly disregarded that the
identifiable individual did not consent to such production or
possession with intent to disclose, disclosure, or
solicitation and receipt; and
“(III) such production or possession with intent to
disclose, disclosure, or solicitation and receipt, 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 an
intimate 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 intimate digital forgery if—
“(I) the identifiable individual did not consent to such
production;
“(II) the person knew or recklessly disregarded that the
identifiable individual—
“(aa) did not consent to such production; and
“(bb) was harmed, or was reasonably likely to be harmed,
by the 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 subparagraph 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 intimate 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 intimate digital forgery” after
“depiction” each place it 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.—
“(A) In general.—In a civil action filed under this
section, an identifiable individual may recover—
“(i) damages as provided under subparagraph (C); and
“(ii) the cost of the action, including reasonable
attorney fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred.
“(B) Punitive damages and other relief.—The court may, in
addition to any other relief available at law, award punitive
damages or order equitable relief, including a temporary
restraining order, a preliminary injunction, or a permanent
injunction ordering the defendant to delete, destroy, or
cease to display or disclose the intimate visual depiction or
intimate digital forgery.
“(C) Damages.—For purposes of subparagraph (A)(i), the
identifiable individual may recover—
“(i) liquidated damages in the amount of—
“(I) $150,000; or
“(II) $250,000 if the conduct at issue in the claim was—
“(aa) committed in relation to actual or attempted sexual
assault, stalking, or harassment of the identifiable
individual by the defendant; or
“(bb) the direct and proximate cause of actual or
attempted sexual assault, stalking, or harassment of the
identifiable individual by any person; or
“(ii) actual damages sustained by the individual, which
shall include any profits of the defendant that are
attributable to the conduct at issue in the claim that are
not otherwise taken into account in computing the actual
damages.
“(D) Calculation of defendant's profit.—For purposes of
subparagraph (C)(ii), to establish the defendant's profits,
the identifiable individual shall be required to present
proof only of the gross revenue of the defendant, and the
defendant shall be required to prove the deductible expenses
of the defendant and the elements of profit attributable to
factors other than the conduct at issue in the claim.
“(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 intimate 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 intimate 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 intimate
digital forgery.”.
(c) Continued Applicability of Federal, State, and Tribal
Law.—
(1) In general.—this title shall not be construed to
impair, supersede, or limit a provision of Federal, State, or
Tribal law.
(2) No preemption.—Nothing in this title shall prohibit a
State or Tribal government from adopting and enforcing a
provision of law governing disclosure of intimate images or
nonconsensual activity involving an intimate digital forgery,
as defined in section 1309(a) of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2022 (15 U.S.C. 6851(a)), as amended by
this title, that is at least as protective of the rights of a
victim as this title.
SEC. 04. SEVERABILITY; RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
(a) Severability.—If any provision of this title, an
amendment made by this title, 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 title, and the application of the
provision or amendment held to be unconstitutional to any
other person or circumstance, shall not be affected thereby.
(b) Rule of Construction.—Nothing in this title, or an
amendment made by this title, shall be construed to limit or
expand any law pertaining to intellectual property.