DOJ seizes CFAKE, SOCFAKE deepfake nude sites under TAKE IT DOWN Act

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that it has seized the CFAKE.com and SOCFAKE.com websites, which allegedly hosted nonconsensual AI-generated nude images and videos of women, in what appears to be the first publicly announced domain seizure under the TAKE IT DOWN Act.

According to the DOJ, the sites shared sexually explicit digital images, or deepfakes, depicting politicians, celebrities, athletes, musicians, and even royalty from multiple countries.

“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,” reads the DOJ announcement.

A deepfake is AI-generated or AI-manipulated media that depicts a person saying, doing, or appearing in ways that never occurred. Deepfake images and videos can be created from existing photos, videos, or audio recordings and are commonly used to generate nonconsensual nude content, impersonation scams, phishing attacks, and cryptocurrency fraud.

The CFAKE.com and SOCFAKE.com domains were seized on Thursday by the DOJ and Homeland Security Investigations after a federal judge found probable cause that they were being used to violate the TAKE IT DOWN Act.

The domains now display a seizure notice stating they were taken offline pursuant to a seizure warrant as part of an operation involving the US, Italy, and France.

“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,” reads the seizure banner on the websites.

“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 US authorities to the websites.

According to Italian media reports, investigators opened an inquiry in October 2025 after receiving complaints regarding AI-generated sexually explicit images depicting women from politics, sports, entertainment, and other public-facing professions.

Italian authorities later obtained a court order blocking access to the websites within Italy while continuing their investigation. The DOJ says evidence gathered by US law enforcement was later shared with French authorities.

French prosecutors and investigators then conducted an investigation that led to the arrest of a suspect in Nice, France, on June 10, along with the seizure of cryptocurrency allegedly connected to the operation.

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. The legislation was championed by First Lady Melania Trump as part of her “Be Best” initiative.

The law makes it a federal crime to publish sexually explicit altered images depicting identifiable individuals without their consent. The legislation also requires online platforms to remove reported intimate images and deepfakes within 48 hours of receiving a valid request from a victim.

“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 appears to be the first publicly announced use of the law to target websites allegedly used to distribute deepfake pornography.