How Congress Is Shaping Technology Policy
From the TikTok law to deepfakes and the debate over AI rules, how the U.S. Congress has approached technology regulation since 2024.
Technology policy has become one of the most active areas in Washington. Yet despite constant hearings and headlines, Congress has passed relatively few comprehensive tech laws, leaving much of the regulation to courts, agencies and individual states.
TikTok
In April 2024, Congress passed a law requiring TikTok's Chinese parent company to divest the app or face a ban in the U.S. The Supreme Court upheld the law in January 2025, although enforcement was subsequently delayed by the executive branch while a sale was pursued.
Online safety and deepfakes
Child online safety has broad bipartisan support. The Kids Online Safety Act passed the Senate in 2024 but did not become law that year. In 2025, the TAKE IT DOWN Act was signed into law, criminalising the publication of non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated deepfakes, and requiring platforms to remove them quickly.
Artificial intelligence
There is still no comprehensive federal AI law. States have moved ahead with their own rules, prompting a debate over whether Washington should override them. In 2025 the Senate voted overwhelmingly to strip a proposed moratorium on state AI laws from a major budget bill, leaving the patchwork in place for now.
Why it matters globally
With the EU's AI Act already in force and countries such as Singapore and Australia developing their own frameworks, how the U.S. regulates technology will shape the rules global companies follow everywhere.
