DOJ seizes deepfake-nude sites CFAKE and SOCFAKE in the first enforcement action under the TAKE…

On June 13, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the seizure of the CFAKE.com and SOCFAKE.com websites for allegedly hosting nonconsensual AI-generated nude images and videos. This operation marks the first publicly announced domain seizure under the TAKE IT DOWN Act, a bipartisan law signed in May 2025 to combat the spread of nonconsensual intimate imagery and digital forgeries.

What happened

The investigation originated when Italy's Postal and Cybersecurity Police alerted U.S. authorities to the websites in October 2025 after receiving complaints. The sites featured AI-generated sexually explicit content depicting various public figures, including politicians, athletes, entertainers, journalists, and royalty from multiple countries.

Following a federal judge's finding of probable cause that the domains violated 47 U.S.C. § 223, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice seized the domains on Thursday. The seizure was part of a coordinated international effort involving the United States, Italy, and France. French authorities conducted a parallel investigation that resulted in the arrest of a suspect in Nice, France, on June 10, and the seizure of cryptocurrency allegedly linked to the operation.

The TAKE IT DOWN Act, which was championed by First Lady Melania Trump, criminalizes the publication of sexually explicit altered images depicting identifiable individuals without their consent. The legislation also mandates that online platforms remove reported intimate images and deepfakes within 48 hours of receiving a valid request from a victim. While the law had been used previously against an individual for creating AI-generated sexually explicit images, this action represents its first application against websites specifically used to distribute deepfake pornography.