DOJ seizes deepfake nude sites CFAKE, SOCFAKE under new law
▼ Summary
– The U.S. Department of Justice seized CFAKE.com and SOCFAKE.com for hosting nonconsensual AI-generated nude images, marking the first public domain seizure under the TAKE IT DOWN Act.
– The websites allegedly shared deepfake images depicting politicians, celebrities, and royalty from multiple countries.
– The domains were seized on Thursday after a federal judge found probable cause of TAKE IT DOWN Act violations, with cooperation from U.S., Italian, and French authorities.
– The TAKE IT DOWN Act, signed in May 2025, makes it a federal crime to publish nonconsensual sexually explicit altered images and requires platforms to remove such content within 48 hours.
– A suspect was arrested in Nice, France, and cryptocurrency was seized as part of the investigation, which began after Italian police alerted U.S. authorities in October 2025.
The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed Friday that it has seized the domains CFAKE.com and SOCFAKE.com, two websites accused of hosting nonconsensual, AI-generated nude images and videos of women. This marks what is believed to be the first public domain seizure executed under the TAKE IT DOWN Act, a federal law signed in May 2025.
According to the DOJ, the platforms distributed sexually explicit deepfakes depicting a wide range of high-profile women, including politicians, celebrities, athletes, musicians, and even royalty from multiple countries. The probable cause affidavit supporting the seizure warrants states that the digital forgeries were designed to appear as sexual images of famous women, such as first ladies, journalists, television presenters, and entertainers.
A deepfake refers to AI-generated or AI-manipulated media that falsely portrays a person saying, doing, or appearing in ways that never happened. These images can be created from existing photos, videos, or audio recordings and are frequently used to produce nonconsensual nude content, impersonation scams, phishing schemes, and cryptocurrency fraud.
The seizure of CFAKE.com and SOCFAKE.com took place Thursday, carried out by the DOJ and Homeland Security Investigations after a federal judge determined there was probable cause that the sites violated the TAKE IT DOWN Act. Both domains now display a seizure notice indicating they were taken offline as part of a coordinated operation involving the United States, Italy, and France.
The notice reads: “THIS DOMAIN HAS BEEN SEIZED by the United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New Jersey Field Office pursuant to a seizure warrant issued by the U. S. District Court for the District of New Jersey as part of coordinated law enforcement actions by HSI, French National Police, the Paris Prosecutor’s Office, Italy’s Polizia di Stato – Postal and Cybersecurity Police, United States Department of Justice’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey for violations of 47 U. S. C. § 223.”
It adds: “The TAKE IT DOWN ACT (47 U. S. C. § 223) prohibits the nonconsensual publication of intimate imagery and digital forgeries (i.e., deepfakes). Violators are subject to fines, imprisonment or both.”
The investigation began after Italy’s Postal and Cybersecurity Police alerted U. S. authorities to the websites. Italian media report that an inquiry was launched in October 2025 following complaints about AI-generated sexually explicit images of women in politics, sports, entertainment, and other public-facing roles. Italian authorities later obtained a court order blocking access to the sites within Italy while continuing their probe. Evidence gathered by U. S. law enforcement was subsequently shared with French authorities.
French prosecutors and investigators then conducted their own investigation, leading to the arrest of a suspect in Nice, France, on June 10. Cryptocurrency allegedly tied to the operation was also seized.
The bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act was signed into law in May 2025 to combat the spread of nonconsensual imagery, including AI-generated deepfake pornography. First Lady Melania Trump championed the legislation as part of her “Be Best” initiative. The law makes it a federal crime to publish sexually explicit altered images of identifiable individuals without their consent and requires online platforms to remove reported intimate images and deepfakes within 48 hours of receiving a valid victim request.
“These domain seizures mark a significant victory in the fight against deepfake pornography,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in Friday’s announcement. “The TAKE IT DOWN Act, championed by First Lady Melania Trump, gives us the tools we need to combat the abuse and exploitation of women and children through these fabricated images.”
The law was previously used against an Ohio man who pleaded guilty to charges related to creating AI-generated sexually explicit images. However, the seizure of CFAKE.com and SOCFAKE.com is the first publicly known application of the law to target websites allegedly used to distribute deepfake pornography.
(Source: BleepingComputer)
