The United States Department of Justice announced Friday that it has seized two websites accused of hosting nonconsensual AI-generated nude images and videos of women, marking what appears to be the first publicly disclosed domain seizure under the TAKE IT DOWN Act.
According to prosecutors, the websites distributed sexually explicit deepfake content depicting politicians, celebrities, athletes, musicians, journalists, television presenters, first ladies, and members of royal families from multiple countries without their consent.
Deepfakes are AI-generated or manipulated images, videos, or audio recordings designed to make people appear to say or do things that never happened. The technology is increasingly being misused to create nonconsensual intimate content, impersonation scams, phishing attacks, and cryptocurrency fraud.
The domains were seized on Thursday by Homeland Security Investigations and the Justice Department after a federal judge determined there was probable cause that the sites violated the TAKE IT DOWN Act.
Visitors to the domains now see a seizure notice stating that the operation involved law enforcement agencies from the United States, France, and Italy. The notice says the websites were taken offline under a warrant issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey for alleged violations of federal law prohibiting the nonconsensual publication of intimate imagery and digital forgeries.
The investigation began after Italy’s Postal and Cybersecurity Police alerted U.S. authorities to the websites. Italian investigators reportedly launched their inquiry in October 2025 following complaints involving AI-generated explicit images targeting women in politics, sports, entertainment, and other public-facing professions.
Italian authorities later blocked access to the sites within the country, while evidence gathered by U.S. investigators was shared with French authorities. The French investigation led to the arrest of a suspect in Nice on June 10 and the seizure of cryptocurrency allegedly linked to the operation.
The bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act, signed into law in May 2025 and championed by Melania Trump through her Be Best initiative, makes it a federal crime to publish sexually explicit altered images of identifiable individuals without consent. The law also requires online platforms to remove reported intimate images and deepfakes within 48 hours of receiving a valid request from victims.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche described the domain seizures as a significant step in combating deepfake pornography and the exploitation of women and children through fabricated images.
If this article helped you, please consider supporting our work. Every small contribution keeps Abijita.com independent and running.
While the law has previously been used in a criminal case involving an Ohio man who pleaded guilty to creating AI-generated explicit images, the seizure of these domains appears to be its first publicly announced use against websites accused of distributing deepfake pornography.
