HONOR Act

Bill Number: H.R. 5090
Origin Chamber: House
Congress: 119th Congress, Session 1
Policy Area: Armed Forces and National Security
Status: Introduced
Latest Action: 2025-09-02: Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
Last Updated: 2025-09-23T19:12:40Z

AI-Generated Summary

The legislation amends the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to strengthen prohibitions on the wrongful broadcast, distribution, or publication of intimate visual images, including digital forgeries (often called deepfakes), within the U.S. military.

Short Title: The bill is named the "Halting Online Nonconsensual Offenses in the Ranks Act" or "HONOR Act."
Core Offense: It updates Article 117a (Section 917a of Title 10, U.S. Code) to criminalize knowingly broadcasting, distributing, or publishing intimate visual images under specific conditions, with separate rules for authentic images and digital forgeries, and for adults versus minors.
For non-minors (authentic images): Requires knowledge of privacy expectations, lack of consent, no public exposure, no public concern, and intent or actual harm (psychological, financial, or reputational).
For minors (authentic images): Requires intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse sexual desire.
Similar rules apply to digital forgeries, which are defined as AI- or software-generated images indistinguishable from authentic ones.
Exceptions: Does not apply to authorized law enforcement or intelligence activities, good-faith disclosures (e.g., to police or in legal proceedings), medical/educational uses, or self-published images.
Consent Rules: Clarifies that consent to creation does not imply consent to distribution, and sharing with one person does not allow further sharing.
Definitions: Provides detailed terms for "consent," "digital forgery," "identifiable individual," "intimate visual depiction," "sexually explicit conduct," "minor," "broadcast," "distribute," and various communication services.

Expands the existing UCMJ provision (which focused on authentic intimate images) to explicitly cover digital forgeries created via artificial intelligence or similar technology.
Introduces tiered prohibitions distinguishing between adults and minors, with added intent requirements for minors.
Broadens the scope of prohibited actions to include use of communication services for publication, while adding new exceptions and consent clarifications.

Government Agencies: Primarily affects the Department of Defense and military justice system by requiring updates to training, investigations, and court-martial proceedings.
Citizens: Impacts U.S. military service members by increasing accountability for sharing nonconsensual intimate images or forgeries, potentially protecting victims from harm.
International Relations: No direct effects specified in the legislation.

U.S. military service members (active duty, reserves, and related personnel subject to the UCMJ).
Victims of nonconsensual image distribution within the military.
Military courts, commanders, and investigators responsible for enforcement.
The Department of Defense and Congress (as creators and overseers of the policy).

Raises military-specific free speech considerations, as the UCMJ applies stricter standards to service members than civilian law.
Includes safeguards like consent definitions and exceptions to balance privacy protections with lawful activities (e.g., law enforcement or medical uses).
Addresses emerging technology issues like AI-generated images, potentially setting precedents for handling digital forgeries in military contexts.

This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.

Halting Online Nonconsensual Offenses in the Ranks Act — issued 2025-09-02 — PDF (11 pages)