As of September 2026, federal disinformation policy under the Trump administration has moved in one direction: dismantling the government's role in flagging or pressuring platforms over online content. The binding rules that remain for platforms are narrow — a court-enforced injunction covering three agencies, one federal takedown mandate for non-consensual intimate images, and a patchwork of state election-deepfake laws. That split matters for anyone deciding what to do. The federal government has largely stepped back from asking platforms to remove "false" content, while simultaneously creating a new federal takedown duty in a different area entirely, with real deadlines and an FTC complaint portal behind it.
Table of Contents
- Where federal policy stands in 2026
- The Missouri v. Biden consent decree, and who it actually binds
- The one federal deadline platforms actually had to meet
- Election deepfakes are governed by state law
- Questions worth asking before you act
- Frequently Asked Questions
Where federal policy stands in 2026
The policy turn began on day one of the term. Trump signed Executive Order 14149, "Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship," on January 20, 2025, which bars federal employees and federal funds from acting to abridge any American citizen's free speech and directs the Attorney General to review the prior four years of federal speech-related activity, according to the order as published in the Federal Register. The foreign-facing side was dismantled next.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the closure of the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Hub — the successor to the Global Engagement Center — on April 16, 2025, saying it had been used to "silence and censor the voices of Americans"; MIT Technology Review reported that the closure left no dedicated State Department office countering Russian, Chinese and Iranian influence operations. The multilateral commitments followed. In September 2025 the State Department announced the United States had ceased participation in all Frameworks to Counter Foreign State Information Manipulation, formally ending agreements signed by the prior administration.
The Missouri v. Biden consent decree, and who it actually binds
The most durable legal change is not the executive order — it is a court-enforceable settlement. In March 2026 the Justice Department entered a consent decree in Missouri v. Biden with Missouri and Louisiana: a 10-year injunction barring the Surgeon General, the CDC and CISA from threatening legal, regulatory or economic punishment to push platforms into removing, suppressing or algorithmically demoting protected speech, and from directing or vetoing moderation policies. A consent decree is a settlement a judge signs and can enforce, which makes it harder to undo than an executive order a future president can revoke.
But its reach is narrow, and the Middle Tennessee State University First Amendment Encyclopedia's account of the decree's scope is the part most readers get wrong. That last point is the practical one. No private citizen has a right to sue under the decree. If you believe a covered agency pressured a platform over your post, your route is a complaint to one of those two state attorneys general, not a lawsuit of your own.
- It binds three agencies only: the Surgeon General, the CDC and CISA. No other agency is covered.
- It names five platforms: Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
- It runs 10 years from entry.
- It is enforceable solely by the Missouri and Louisiana attorneys general.
The one federal deadline platforms actually had to meet
While federal pressure over "misinformation" receded, a separate federal takedown mandate arrived with teeth. The FTC began enforcing Section 3 of the TAKE IT DOWN Act on May 19, 2026: covered services must offer a removal-request process and take down non-consensual intimate images — including AI deepfakes and digitally altered images — plus known identical copies, within 48 hours of a valid request. The agency signaled it meant to enforce.
Ahead of the date, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson sent compliance warning letters to Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Automattic, Bumble, Discord, Match Group, Meta, Microsoft, Pinterest, Reddit, SmugMug, Snapchat, TikTok and X, and opened TakeItDown.ftc.gov for the public to report services that fail to remove content or provide no request process. Note the boundary. This law covers intimate imagery, not political falsehoods. A fabricated video of a candidate giving a speech is not a TAKE IT DOWN matter; a sexualized deepfake of a private person is.
Election deepfakes are governed by state law
Anyone expecting a federal rule on synthetic political media in the midterms will not find one. As of July 2026, roughly 31 states had election deepfake statutes and about 45 had some AI-content law, typically requiring disclaimers on synthetic political media inside a 60-to-90-day pre-election window, the Arizona Capitol Times reported in its account of how those regimes face their first big test in the November 2026 midterms. Effective dates and standards vary, which is the compliance trap.
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Maryland's SB 141 took effect June 1, 2026, prohibiting knowingly or recklessly creating, using or disseminating a deepfake to produce materially false information — a scope that is not limited to a pre-election window and not identical to its neighbors'. A campaign, PAC or advocacy group running national digital advertising therefore has to track each state separately. The relevant questions are which states your ads actually serve into, when each law's window opens relative to the election, and whether the statute requires a visible disclaimer, bans the content outright, or both.
Questions worth asking before you act
These are the checks that separate a real claim from a misread headline. One structural fact is worth holding onto as the midterms approach: the federal government has closed its dedicated office for countering foreign influence operations and exited the multilateral frameworks, while the rules constraining synthetic political content sit almost entirely in state statutes that take effect on different dates and reach different conduct.
- Is the agency you are complaining about one of the three the decree covers? If not, the decree gives you nothing.
- Who can enforce the remedy you want? The consent decree runs through two state attorneys general; TAKE IT DOWN runs through the FTC; state deepfake laws generally run through state AGs or election officials, with some private causes of action.
- Is the content intimate imagery or political speech? That single question routes you to completely different law.
- Did you make a valid removal request, and when? The 48-hour clock under TAKE IT DOWN starts from a valid request, so keep a timestamped copy of what you sent and to whom.
- Which state's law governs the ad you are running? Serving into a state generally brings its disclaimer rules into play regardless of where the campaign is based.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sue under the Missouri v. Biden consent decree if I think an agency got my post removed?
No. The decree is enforceable solely by the Missouri and Louisiana attorneys general, so a private individual has no right of action under it. A complaint to one of those offices is the available route.
Does the TAKE IT DOWN Act cover political deepfakes?
No. Section 3 covers non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated and digitally altered ones. Political synthetic media is addressed by state election-deepfake laws instead.
How fast must a platform remove a reported image?
Within 48 hours of a valid request, along with known identical copies, under the FTC's enforcement of Section 3 that began May 19, 2026.
Where do I report a platform that ignored my request?
The FTC opened TakeItDown.ftc.gov for the public to report services that fail to remove content or that offer no removal-request process at all.
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