In mid-September, Twitchy reported about the new hell coming to America from California (because, of course, it's California) that memes, parodies, and satires are now 'dangerous misinformation' that need to be made illegal. The idea originated with the hypocritical, hierarchical, greasy-haired snake oil salesman known as Governor Gavin Newsom, and then the legislature proudly handed him two unconstitutional bills outlawing 'materially deceptive content' (whatever that means) that he proudly signed into law. 

In his pure tyrannical fervor, Newsom even threatened legal action against Elon Musk for AI-generated memes.

Unfortunately for Newsom, while he may continue to try to ruin California, he is not yet the dictator for life that he wants to be. A legal challenge was guaranteed to come in response and yesterday, that response came from one of the best possible litigants: The Babylon Bee. 

Twitchy readers will remember that the Bee was once suspended from Twitter for calling Rachel Levine a man (because he is one) only to be reinstated when Musk bought Twitter. It is only fitting that the popular parody site would be among the first to fire back at Newsom and California. 

EXCLUSIVE: Babylon Bee Sues California Over Unprecedented Crackdown On Satire, Parody https://t.co/IYc4hB4ZPB

— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) September 30, 2024

Daily Wire reporter Zach Jewell outlined more details about the suit: 

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and shared exclusively with The Daily Wire, begins by noting that in July of this year, Newsom tweeted that a parody video of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris should be 'illegal.' 'The legislature heard the call and passed two laws that forbid political expression under the label of ‘materially deceptive content,' the lawsuit asserts. 

The complaint explains that one of California’s new laws will require social media platforms to become 'state snitches' and force them 'to field reports about user posts with ‘materially deceptive content’ and then remove or label them.'

In his first public statement on the lawsuit, Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon told Daily Wire news podcast 'Morning Wire' that one of the new California laws especially targets satirists, such as the writers at his company, 'by requiring them to put disclaimers to let you know that this is parody that you’re reading right now – which completely stifles and kills the joke.'

Recommended

Advertisement

It not only kills the joke, it kills free speech. 

Later in the article, Kristen Waggoner, president of the Alliance Defending Freedom which assisted The Babylon Bee in filing the suit, summed up the intent of the laws perfectly: 'These laws were passed by politicians to protect politicians from speech that they don’t like.'

Nailed it. 

Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon took to Twitter to note the insanity of having to file a suit against laws of this nature. 

It shouldn't be necessary to defend comedy in court, but here we are. https://t.co/bgtphYxHlJ

— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) September 30, 2024

Others echoed the same sentiment. 

This headline should be satire. But we live in the stupidest timeline. https://t.co/GDEL2BITbV

— Silence and Frost with a side of Bloodbath (@secjr112) September 30, 2024

Indeed. 

It's a real tragedy that we have to still fight for free speech.

Good for @TheBabylonBee for taking up the charge. 👏

And it'll be a great day when they inevitably win. https://t.co/KdyEanyEXA

— Anonymous Troll Demon (@TrollDemonAnon) September 30, 2024

The case should be a slam dunk and likely will be if it goes all the way up to the Supreme Court, but that will take some time. We can only hope that there will be injunctions against the laws in the meantime. 

A politician can outright lie in a political ad but satire that doesn't toe the line of the party in charge is unlawful? WTH https://t.co/OpiLftYzeV

— BSquared (@Bb122331Bob) September 30, 2024

Seth Dillon: "[...] it becomes significantly more difficult when self-serving politicians abuse their power to try and control public discourse and clamp down on comedy. Unfortunately for them, the First Amendment secures our right to tell jokes they don't like.” 🔥🇺🇸 https://t.co/jvVquqSqpd

— Anon (@libertyornothin) September 30, 2024

Feels a bit like this https://t.co/OO1R3zoRFe pic.twitter.com/lQpeUP0mWl

— Game Changer (@GameChange25582) September 30, 2024

Any sane American politician would be horrified to be enacting laws similar to those of Communist China. But this is Gavin Newsom we're talking about. He is likely proud of the comparison. 

Time for @elonmusk to buy California

— Frankaron (@frankaronAFz) September 30, 2024

HA. 

If that's not possible, the Lex Luthor approach from the original Superman movie in 1978 is also worth consideration.

Some epic memes will be included in this lawsuit

— Neil Fotre (@neil_fotre) September 30, 2024

We can't wait. They're guaranteed to be hilarious. 

I salute you. This is a just fight against a tyrant. The founding fathers would have no use for Newsome. pic.twitter.com/5A60g95Aoz

— Bubba-Banjo (@BubbaBanjos) October 1, 2024

They would be appalled, but the Saturday Night Live GIF is appropriate here. It will be interesting to see if other, more left-leaning satire outlets like SNL or The Onion show support for this suit, as they should, or remain silent. 

California's new law creating a "humor police" is no laughing matter. Americans have been poking fun at politicians since our founding, and @GavinNewsom has no authority to censor speech by labeling it as "deceptive". https://t.co/WnubovHy3s

— Matt Sharp (@MattSharpADF) September 30, 2024

We're pretty sure that Larry Flynt already won a case exactly like this against Jerry Falwell, but it will be great if that ruling is affirmed and California's new laws are struck down, burned to ash, buried, and salted over. 

Mess with the Bee...you get the stinger! pic.twitter.com/cmIz2YZzsX

— Blue Checks Rock 🎸 (@Poprocksak) September 30, 2024

This lawsuit isn't just for The Babylon Bee, though. It is for all of us. We love parody and satire here at Twitchy and we include a lot of that (and a ton of memes) in our articles. 

If California's laws are allowed to stand, it will limit free speech for everyone. 

We can only hope that sanity prevails in the courts and they remember that -- unlike the U.K., for instance -- we have a First Amendment in the United States which expressly forbids what the authoritarian Newsom and California legislature are trying to do to Americans.