NEW JERSEY — The U.S. Department of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations seized the CFAKE.com and SOCFAKE.com websites on Thursday. A federal judge issued seizure warrants after finding probable cause that the websites violated the TAKE IT DOWN Act by allegedly hosting nonconsensual AI-generated nude images and videos of women.

The seizure of these domains marks the first publicly announced use of the act to target websites. The law, signed in May 2025, makes it a federal crime to publish sexually explicit altered images depicting identifiable individuals without consent. It also requires online platforms to remove reported intimate images and deepfakes within 48 hours of receiving a valid victim request.

According to the probable cause affidavit supporting the seizure warrants, the digital forgeries were made to appear to be sexual images of famous women, including politicians, first ladies of multiple countries, royalty, journalists, television presenters, athletes, entertainers, and others. Earlier use of the law involved an Ohio man who pleaded guilty to creating AI-generated sexually explicit images.

The investigation originated after Italy's Postal and Cybersecurity Police alerted U.S. authorities to the websites. Italian investigators opened an inquiry in October 2025 following complaints about AI-generated sexually explicit images, and they obtained a court order to block access to the websites within Italy. U.S. law enforcement shared gathered evidence with French authorities, who arrested a suspect in Nice on June 10 and seized cryptocurrency allegedly connected to the operation.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said, "These domain seizures mark a significant victory in the fight against deepfake pornography." He added, "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."