In Reply to: How dry I am. Nobody knows. how dry I am. posted by mh on July 23, 2026 at 10:19:20
Terrified GOP scuttles 'splashy' bill to stop foe from 'boosting her bona fides': sources
House Republican leaders have bottled up a bipartisan bill protecting deepfake porn victims to keep Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) from claiming a win before a possible 2028 presidential run, according to a new report.
The Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act — known as the DEFIANCE Act — would let victims of nonconsensual, sexually explicit deepfakes sue their abusers in civil court. The Senate passed it unanimously twice, most recently in January 2026, according to Senate records.
The bill has nearly 60 bipartisan co-sponsors in the House, according to Politico, where Ocasio-Cortez leads it alongside Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL).
Four people working closely on the legislation told Politico that Republican leaders are 'scuttling' it rather than 'handing AOC a major legislative victory.'
"It's a shame that this bill isn't law because they are unwilling to give AOC a win," one person said. "When you look at it, everything is aligned for it to pass, except that they don't want her to have this."
"We're depriving many, many people of the ability to set their lives right just to prevent one member of Congress from being able to pass a bill," a second person said.