The US Senate passed a bill allowing victims of non-consensual deepfakes to sue, following the Grok scandal
On Tuesday, January 13, 2026 (local time), the US Senate unanimously passed a bill that would allow lawsuits to be filed against those who create non-consensual sexually explicit
Senate passes a bill that would let nonconsensual deepfake victims sue | The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/news/861531/defiance-act-senate-passage-deepfakes-grok
US Senate Targets Sexual Deepfakes Amid Furor Over Grok Images - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-13/us-senate-targets-sexual-deepfakes-amid-furor-over-grok-images
Senate passes DEFIANCE Act to deal with sexually explicit deepfakes
https://19thnews.org/2026/01/senate-defiance-act-nonconsensual-images-deepfakes/
The bill passed by the US Senate is called the 'DEFIANCE Act,' which aims to crack down on cases like the 'non-consensual production of sexually explicit images' by Grok, which has been a problem since the end of December 2025. Authorities in India, France, and Malaysia have launched investigations into Grok's mass production of sexual deepfakes, and Indonesia and Malaysia have already temporarily blocked access to Grok.
Authorities in India, France, and Malaysia launch investigations into Grok, a generative AI that can also be used on X, after the image editing function could generate sexual images of children and women - GIGAZINE
Senator Dick Durbin, a co-sponsor of the Defiance Act, explained the reason for the bill, saying, 'Despite warnings that egregious deepfake images are being mass-produced, Grok and X (formerly Twitter) have not responded. They have not attempted to remove the images from the internet. They have not attempted to provide relief to victims.' 'That's why this law is so important, because it provides that those who engage in this reckless illegal activity may be sued and held civilly liable for damages.'
The Defiance Act was co-sponsored by Illinois Democratic Senator Durbin and South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. Durbin said, 'The polarized parties came together on a bipartisan agenda, and it passed unanimously.'
Omni Miranda Marton, founder and CEO of the Sexual Violence Prevention Association , explained that it is unclear whether the Defiance Act would allow X to be held civilly liable for a series of non-consensual uses of images.
The Defiance Act was introduced in the House of Representatives by New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Florida Republican Representative Laurel Lee, who raised the issue as a victim of deepfakes herself.
The 19th News points out, 'It's no coincidence that female lawmakers are speaking out about this issue, as they are more likely to be targets of this type of digital sexual violence. A 2024
In 2025, the US Congress passed the 'Take It Down Act,' which would outlaw non-consensual sexual images, both real-world and computer-generated, and would require platforms to implement a process to remove non-consensual sexual images within 48 hours by May 2026.
Marton explains that the Resistance Act and the Takedown Act have always been envisioned as a two-pronged solution to the problem of deepfake abuse, and that the Sexual Violence Prevention Association has been involved in drafting both bills.
In response to the issue of Grok mass-producing sexual deep fakes, some American politicians have called for Apple and Google to remove X and Grok from their app stores.
US politicians send open letter calling for the removal of Grok and X apps from Apple and Google's app stores because they 'mass-produce illegal sexual images' - GIGAZINE
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in AI, Posted by logu_ii