Sponsors (2)
The bill creates a federal civil cause of action protecting victims (including minors) from unsolicited intimate images and AI sexual forgeries and preserves professional communications, but limits remedies to direct sends with a modest statutory cap and leaves unresolved constitutional and access-to-relief concerns for public postings.
Victims of unsolicited intimate images (including children and other vulnerable minors and women) can sue senders in federal court and seek statutory damages (up to $1,000), emotional‑distress damages, attorneys’ fees, and injunctions.
Victims of fabricated sexual media created by deepfakes or other AI technologies are explicitly covered, allowing those harmed by sexual forgeries to pursue civil relief.
Minors receive special procedural protections: guardians may sue on their behalf and cases can proceed using initials or pseudonyms to protect minors’ privacy in court records.
People whose intimate images are posted publicly (e.g., shared or published by third parties) may lack a federal civil remedy because liability is limited to direct sending rather than wider distribution or publication.
The $1,000 statutory damages cap may be too low to adequately compensate adults for severe emotional, reputational, or economic harms caused by sharing intimate images.
Civil liability, injunctions, and the law’s scope could prompt First Amendment challenges and create uncertainty and litigation risk for platforms, speakers, and nonprofits about what constitutes protected expression.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal civil right to sue senders who knowingly or recklessly transmit unsolicited intimate images or intimate digital forgeries without consent, with damages and injunctive relief.
Official title: Establish a private right of action against a person who transmits unsolicited intimate visual depictions.
Introduced June 8, 2026 by Brian Emanuel Schatz · Last progress June 8, 2026
Creates a federal private right of action for people who receive unsolicited intimate images or intimate digital forgeries sent knowingly or with reckless disregard across interstate or foreign commerce without the recipient's consent. The law lets victims (or guardians for minors) sue in federal court for statutory damages up to $1,000 or compensatory emotional-distress damages, seek attorneys’ fees, costs, and injunctions, while exempting good‑faith medical, educational, and law‑enforcement transmissions and preserving criminal law and First Amendment protections.