When Elliston Berry was 14, one of her male classmates took an innocent photo off her Instagram account and used AI to create an explicit deepfake image. This type of vile behavior causes humiliation and harm to Americans around the country, and often targets young women and girls. Although the experience was undeniably traumatic, Elliston did not allow it to define her. Instead, she turned a painful situation into a catalyst for change, pushing our country to guard against this kind of harassment. In the process, she stood up for every victim whose life has been upended by the spread of nonconsensual intimate images online. Elliston’s advocacy inspired me to sponsor the bipartisan Take It Down Act, a new federal law that fights these online harms. She showed incredible bravery by choosing to share her story on a national stage—before she even got her driver’s license. Because of Elliston, we have a safer digital space for Americans now and for generations to come.
Cruz, a Republican, is a U.S. Senator for Texas