I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7569 
To improve rights to relief for individuals affected by non-consensual activities 
involving intimate digital forgeries, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 6, 2024 
Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ (for herself, Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California, Ms. MACE, 
Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER, Mr. MILLER of Ohio, Ms. WEXTON, Mr. 
RASKIN, Ms. ROSS, and Mr. LIEU) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To improve rights to relief for individuals affected by non- 
consensual activities involving intimate digital forgeries, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Disrupt Explicit 
Forged Images And Non-Consensual Edits Act of 2024’’ 
or as the ‘‘DEFIANCE Act of 2024’’. 
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SEC. 2. CIVIL ACTION RELATING TO DISCLOSURE OF INTI-
MATE IMAGES. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 1309(a) of the Consoli-
dated Appropriations Act, 2022 (15 U.S.C. 6851(a)) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘competent,’’ 
after ‘‘conscious,’’; 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as 
paragraphs (6) and (7), respectively; 
(3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para-
graph (5); 
(4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(3) DIGITAL FORGERY.—The term ‘digital for-
gery’ means any intimate visual depiction of an iden-
tifiable individual created through the use of soft-
ware, machine learning, artificial intelligence, or any 
other computer-generated or technological means, in-
cluding by adapting, modifying, manipulating, or al-
tering an authentic visual depiction, to appear to a 
reasonable person to be indistinguishable from an 
authentic visual depiction of the individual, regard-
less of whether the visual depiction indicates, 
through a label or some other form of information 
published with the visual depiction, that the visual 
depiction is not authentic.’’; 
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(5) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated— 
(A) by striking ‘‘(5) DEPICTED’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(5) IDENTIFIABLE’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘depicted individual’’ and 
inserting ‘‘identifiable individual’’; and 
(6) in paragraph (6)(A), as so redesignated— 
(A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘; or’’ and in-
serting a semicolon; 
(B) in clause (ii)— 
(i) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘indi-
vidual;’’ and inserting ‘‘individual; or’’; and 
(ii) by striking subclause (III); and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(iii) an identifiable individual engag-
ing in sexually explicit conduct; and’’. 
(b) CIVIL ACTION.—Section 1309(b) of the Consoli-
dated Appropriations Act, 2022 (15 U.S.C. 6851(b)) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by striking paragraph (A) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
paragraph (5)— 
‘‘(i) an identifiable individual whose 
intimate visual depiction is disclosed, in or 
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(B) in subparagraph (B)— 
(i) in the heading, by inserting 
‘‘IDENTIFIABLE’’ 
before 
‘‘INDIVID-
UALS’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘an individual who is 
under 18 years of age, incompetent, inca-
pacitated, or deceased, the legal guardian 
of the individual’’ and inserting ‘‘an identi-
fiable individual who is under 18 years of 
age, incompetent, incapacitated, or de-
ceased, the legal guardian of the identifi-
able individual’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A)— 
(i) by inserting ‘‘identifiable’’ before 
‘‘individual’’; 
(ii) by striking ‘‘depiction’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘intimate visual depiction or digital 
forgery’’; and 
(iii) by striking ‘‘distribution’’ and in-
serting ‘‘disclosure, solicitation, or posses-
sion’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (B)— 
(i) by inserting ‘‘identifiable’’ before 
individual; 
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(ii) by inserting ‘‘or digital forgery’’ 
after each place the term ‘‘depiction’’ ap-
pears; and 
(iii) by inserting ‘‘, solicitation, or 
possession’’ after ‘‘disclosure’’; 
(3) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para-
graph (5); 
(4) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(3) RELIEF.—In a civil action filed under this 
section— 
‘‘(A) an identifiable individual may recover 
the actual damages sustained by the individual 
or liquidated damages in the amount of 
$150,000, and the cost of the action, including 
reasonable attorney’s fees and other litigation 
costs reasonably incurred; and 
‘‘(B) the court may, in addition to any 
other relief available at law, order equitable re-
lief, including a temporary restraining order, a 
preliminary injunction, or a permanent injunc-
tion ordering the defendant to cease display or 
disclosure of the intimate visual depiction or 
digital forgery. 
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‘‘(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, includ-
ing by— 
‘‘(A) permitting the plaintiff to use a pseu-
donym; 
‘‘(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 pur-
poses of discovery, which may include an order 
indicating that any intimate visual depiction or 
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 ‘‘vis-
ual depiction or 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— 
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‘‘(A) the date on which the identifiable in-
dividual reasonably discovers the violation that 
forms the basis for the claim; or 
‘‘(B) the date on which the identifiable in-
dividual reaches 18 years of age. 
‘‘(7) DUPLICATIVE RECOVERY BARRED.—No re-
lief 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 digital for-
gery.’’. 
(c) CONTINUED
APPLICABILITY
OF
FEDERAL, 
STATE, AND TRIBAL LAW.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—This Act shall not be con-
strued to impair, supersede, or limit a provision of 
Federal, State, or Tribal law. 
(2) NO
PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this Act 
shall prohibit a State or Tribal government from 
adopting and enforcing a provision of law governing 
nonconsensual activity involving a digital forgery, as 
defined in section 1309(a) of the Consolidated Ap-
propriations Act, 2022 (15 U.S.C. 6851(a)), as 
amended by this Act, that is at least as protective 
of the rights of a victim as this Act. 
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SEC. 3. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 
this Act, or the application of such a provision or amend-
ment to any person or circumstance, is held to be uncon-
stitutional, the remaining provisions of and amendments 
made by this Act, and the application of the provision or 
amendment held to be unconstitutional to any other per-
son or circumstance, shall not be affected thereby. 
Æ 
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