Two men charged under Take It Down Act for AI deepfake porn targeting celebrities and politicians

About this record

This incident page is generated from structured reporting inputs and public sources. It is intended to support tracking and review, not to replace primary source verification.

Incident details

Incident ID: inc_2026_05_23_3e5cd6ed
Date source: llm_extracted_from_article_text
Country: United States
Platform: Social Media
Incident type: Non Consensual Synthetic Image
Verification level: reported_but_unverified

Harm types

Non Consensual Imagery Celebrity Impersonation Political Impersonation Fraud Scam

Topics

Deepfake Synthetic Image

Summary

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn charged two men, Cornelius Shannon and Arturo Hernandez, with using AI to generate thousands of nonconsensual deepfake pornographic images and videos targeting female celebrities, elected officials, and acquaintances. The charges were brought under the Take It Down Act, which criminalizes the creation and publication of nonconsensual AI-generated intimate imagery. The defendants were arrested in the Eastern District of New York, and the content reportedly accumulated millions of views online. The Take It Down Act was signed into law in May 2025, and the defendants were charged around the one-year anniversary of its enactment, coinciding with new platform compliance deadlines.

Sources

Two men charged under Take It Down Act for AI deepfake porn targeting celebrities and politicians

cryptobriefing.com · 2026-05-23 · Primary