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A federal judge has shot down, at least temporarily, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ban on political parody online.
The Washington Examiner describe the state’s newest censorship law as an attempt to hold down “political disinformation.”
“The ruling is the result of a lawsuit filed by Chris Kohls, known as ‘Mr Reagan’ on X. Kohls is the original poster of an AI video that replicated Vice President Kamala Harris’ voice and went viral on X this summer. The video caught Newsom’s attention and prompted him to create the law. X owner Elon Musk reposted the video, making it even more widespread.”
The report noted that Kohls had explained in court papers that the video was a parody and therefore protected under the First Amendment, and District Judge John A. Mendez agreed.
He said the law, a “hammer” in his opinion, “hinders humorous expression and unconstitutionally stifles the free and unfettered exchange of ideas.”
California’s unconstitutional law infringing on your freedom of speech has been blocked by the court. Yay! https://t.co/dRihErTsJ9
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 3, 2024
WND had reported only a day earlier on a request from a legal team from the ADF for the parody ban be halted.
“California’s war against political memes is censorship, plain and simple. We shouldn’t trust the government to decide what is true in our online political debates. Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed two laws punishing political speech, with one law taking effect immediately, just as the election season heated up – a time when we need more speech, not less,” explained Jonathan Scruggs, a lawyer with the organization.
“That includes political parody and satire, a type of expression that has been used throughout our nation’s history. While lawmakers act as if posting and sharing memes is a threat to democracy, these laws target speech California officials don’t like.”
The dispute is over the state’s demand to censor political memes and satire, a move that has been described as threatening online political speech throughout the state.
WND previously reported as the battle heated up and Newsom, who has faced mockery for his state’s high taxes, extremism on social issues like abortion and transgenderism, attempts to interfere with other states and their rights, took chutzpah to a new level.
That, by the way, derives from a Hebrew word meaning “insolence,” “cheek” or “audacity.”
He signed a law banning parody.
The report said video creator Christopher Kohls is charging Newsom with violations of the First and 14th Amendments with Newsom’s “anti-deepfake measure” that was signed into law this week.
California’s governor was offended by a parody released by “Mr. Reagan” recently:
Kamala Harris Campaign Ad PARODY pic.twitter.com/5lBxvyTZ3o
— Mr Reagan (@MrReaganUSA) July 26, 2024
In it “Kamala Harris” confirms she is the Democrat candidate for president because Joe Biden “exposed his senility at the debate.”
She confesses she is the “ultimate diversity hire,” as a woman and a “person of color.”
“So if you criticize anything I say you’re both sexist and racist.”
The mockery continues.
The video uses AI-generated audio clips, and it was shared by Elon Musk, collecting more than 100 million views.
Newsom responded:
I just signed a bill to make this illegal in the state of California.
You can no longer knowingly distribute an ad or other election communications that contain materially deceptive content — including deepfakes. https://t.co/VU4b8RBf6N
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 17, 2024
The lawsuit in federal court in California charges that Newsom’s scheme is a flagrant use of “state power to force private social media companies to censor private citizens’ speech by purging election-related AI-generated content.”
Musk’s comment? “You’re not gonna believe this, but Gavin Newsom, just announced that he signed a LAW to make parody illegal, based on this video.”
He concludes California needs “new leadership.”
Gavin Newsom just signed a bill making memes and parody illegal in his state because of this video.
Gavin will be very mad if this video went viral again! pic.twitter.com/FI0KY866eO
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 18, 2024
However, taking on Newsom directly was the Babylon Bee, which prominently announced it has “‘obtained this exclusive, official, 100% real Gavin Newsom election ad.”
BREAKING: The Babylon Bee has obtained this exclusive, official, 100% real Gavin Newsom election ad. https://t.co/nicrnKF5Ji pic.twitter.com/iksPVxltzI
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) September 18, 2024
In it, “Newsom” states:
This is a message for the people of America, given in my authentically recorded non-AI voice. Thanks to my leadership over the last several years, California has become a world leader in extremist left-wing governance. My policies were so effective that almost 1 million people are now fleeing the state every year. We even ran out of U-Hauls.
During the COVID pandemic, I locked everyone in their homes and shut down businesses for months. Not the French Laundry, though. That’s my favorite restaurant. Last year, I cleaned up the dangerous, messy streets of San Francisco. You know, because Chinese Communist President Xi was coming. And I really wanted to impress him. He’s my boss, after all.
This year, I signed legislation that allows me to take custody of your kid if you refuse to give him artificial hormones and chop off his genitals. Because if you don’t do that, you’re a bigot. And bigots shouldn’t be allowed to have kids. I’ve also led the way in green energy by banning all cars that don’t run on electricity. Then I banned almost all the electricity. This is smart leadership.
On my watch, the cost of living and homelessness have skyrocketed. Schools are failing. Drug dealers and human traffickers are pouring across the border. And poop has covered the sidewalks of San Francisco. This is the positive, joyful vision we offer as Democrats.
That’s why I’m enthusiastically endorsing Kamala Harris for president in 2024. She’ll do to the country everything I did in California. Anyway, I’m California Governor Gavin Newsom, and I approve this 100% real message, which is a recording of my voice without the assistance of any AI whatsoever.
This isn’t a deepfake. And you can rest assured that it isn’t, because I just signed an unconstitutional law outlawing deepfakes. No one would dare violate it. Thank you, and science bless America.
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