Support and work to pass the DEFIANCE Act to grant survivors the right to sue over nonconsensual sexually explicit digital forgeries.

The bill would grant survivors the right to sue individuals who knowingly produce, distribute, solicit and receive, or possess with the intent to distribute nonconsensual sexually-explicit digital forgeries. ... “I encourage other AI companies to follow suit and for the House of Representatives to finally advance this key piece of legislation,” said Durbin.

Durbin promoted the DEFIANCE Act and urged the House to advance it so survivors can sue perpetrators of nonconsensual sexually explicit digital forgeries.

Durbin, Graham Announce First Artificial Intelligence Company Endorsement Of DEFIANCE Act
primary · press_release · model gpt-5.5

Durbin's office reported that he passed the DEFIANCE Act on the Senate floor by unanimous consent and then said the House still needed to pass it to make it law.

Durbin took concrete action in the current Senate term by making the unanimous-consent request that secured Senate passage. The same source shows the bill still required House passage and enactment, so the right-to-sue policy was not yet fully delivered.

partial same_term A for effort

Durbin Successfully Passes Bill To Combat Nonconsensual, Sexually-Explicit Deepfake Images
secondary · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 94%

The draft House bill is titled the DEFIANCE Act of 2025 and would allow an identifiable person targeted by an intimate digital forgery to bring a federal civil action.

The bill text matches the commitment's substance: it creates a civil cause of action for nonconsensual sexually explicit digital forgeries. It is bill text, not enacted law.

partial same_term A for effort

DEFIANCE Act of 2025 bill text
secondary · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 92%

Congress.gov lists Durbin as sponsor, shows S.3696 passed the Senate on July 23, 2024, and then was held at the House desk on July 24, 2024.

Durbin sponsored the 2024 DEFIANCE Act and got it through the Senate, but Congress.gov records no completed House passage or enactment in the 118th Congress.

partial same_term A for effort

S.3696 - DEFIANCE Act of 2024, 118th Congress
secondary · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 95%

Durbin's office said the Senate unanimously passed the DEFIANCE Act, and Durbin urged the House to take it up and send it to the President.

This confirms earlier same-term work and Senate passage, while also showing the bill had not yet become law after Senate action in 2024.

partial same_term A for effort

Durbin Celebrates Passage Of His Bill To Tackle Nonconsensual, Sexually-Explicit Deepfakes In Speech On The Senate Floor
secondary · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 93%

Congress.gov explains that enacted bills appear on its Public Laws list; the displayed 119th Congress entries include laws through February 18, 2026, with no DEFIANCE Act entry found on the page.

As checked for this refresh, the official public-law list did not show the DEFIANCE Act as enacted. This supports that the underlying right-to-sue commitment remained unresolved rather than fully delivered.

unresolved same_term A for effort

Public Laws, 119th Congress | Congress.gov
secondary · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 82%

The Verge reported Senate passage by unanimous consent and stated the bill still needed House floor action before it could reach the President.

Strong reporting corroborates the official Durbin account: Senate passage occurred in January 2026, but the bill was still awaiting House action and was not fully enacted.

partial same_term A for effort

Senate passes a bill that would let nonconsensual deepfake victims sue
secondary · model gpt-5.5 · confidence 86%