A federal judge has blocked Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom and his band of leftist legislators from implementing a political speech-killing law hastily assembled under the guise of protecting the public from so-called “deepfakes.”
The decision, at least for now, is a significant victory for the First Amendment, which has been under constant assault from leftists like Newsom who insist they are “defending democracy” by gutting liberties in the name of stopping “disinformation.” California’s far-left attorney general, Rob Bonta, is likely to appeal.
The California legislature rushed to pass and implement the bill (authored by state Rep. Gail Pellerin, D-Santa Cruz) after Newsom took issue with a hilarious parody video satirizing Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Produced by Christopher Kohls, who bills himself as “Mr. Reagan,” the campaign ad parody uses AI to make Harris, in many cases, say what she has been incapable of saying as President Joe Biden’s vice president and on the campaign trail: the truth.
“I, Kamala Harris, am your Democrat candidate for president because Joe Biden finally exposed his senility at the debate. Thanks, Joe,” the “fake” Harris says in the video.
Free speech warrior and X owner Elon Musk posted the parody in late July. Newsom went apoplectic, declaring that he would sign a bill shutting down such satire. Earlier this month, the Democrat signed constitutionally suspect bills he claims will “protect individuals from the misuse of digital content.”
The law blocked by the federal judge bans digitally manipulated communications deemed to be misleading
