Topline
X sued to block a California law targeting political deepfakes on social media platforms—set to go into effect next year—late on Thursday, months after billionaire owner Elon Musk attacked the state’s Governor Gavin Newsom for signing the law, claiming it would make “parody illegal.”
Key Facts
The law, also known as Assembly Bill 2655 (AB 2655), requires large online platforms like X to block certain election-related deepfake content and label other such content as “inauthentic, fake, or false” 120 days before and after an election in the state.
In its filing, the social media company alleged the law runs “counter to the First Amendment’s “staunch protection” of political speech, including the “use of exaggerated or unfavorable visual means to undermine and combat political opponents.”
The lawsuit also argued that because of a lack of consequence for improperly taking down content that does not violate AB 2655, the law incentivizes platforms to “err significantly on the side of censorship.”
The platform also notes that it has internal policies for moderating “synthetic” or “manipulated media” that may “deceive or confuse…and lead to harm,” but it includes exceptions for memes or satire, illustrations and cartoons, commentary and counter speech.
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Crucial Quote
“There is a long history of the strongest of First Amendment protections for speech critical of government officials and candidates for public office, that includes tolerance for potentially false speech made in the context of such criticisms. And there is a long history of skepticism of any governmental attempts to regulate such content, no matter how well-intentioned they may be,” the lawsuit states.
Key Background
In September, Newsom signed three laws targeting election-related deepfake images and videos. Assembly Bill 2839, which went into effect immediately at the time, made it illegal to distribute “materially deceptive audio or visual media of a candidate” 120 days before an election and in some cases, 60 days after. AB 2655 required online platforms to act against such content, while another legislation, Assembly Bill 2355, required political campaigns to make a public disclosure if they run ads with AI-generated or altered visuals. AB 2655 and Ab 2355 are set to go into effect next year. A day after Newsom signed the legislation, an X user—who had previously released a deepfake campaign video that used AI-generated audio clips mimicking Vice President Kamala Harris’ voice and referred to her as the “ultimate diversity hire” and a “deep state puppet”—sued to block them. Shortly after the video was released, Musk boosted the video by sharing it from his own X handle. Last month, a federal judge sided with the X user and paused AB 2839 from going into effect. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez acknowledged the “risks posed by artificial intelligence and deepfakes are significant,” but said the law likely violates the First Amendment. Mendez added that the law “acts as a hammer instead of a scalpel, serving as a blunt tool that hinders humorous expression and unconstitutionally stifles the free unfettered exchange of ideas.”
News Peg
In July, Newsom vowed to sign legislation to crack down on political deepfakes online after Musk shared the Harris deepfake video, which has now garnered more than 136 million views. The billionaire, who endorsed President-elect Donald Trump, mocked Newsom at first by tweeting “parody is legal in America.” After Newsom signed the bills into law, Musk reshared the video on X and wrote: “You’re not gonna believe this, but Gavin Newsom, just announced that he signed a LAW to make parody illegal, based on this video.” After Mendez’s ruling last month, the billionaire tweeted: “California’s unconstitutional law infringing on your freedom of speech has been blocked by the court.” He also congratulated the plaintiff by tweeting, “Score one for the people’s right to free speech.”
Further Reading
Federal Judge Halts California’s New Anti-Deepfakes Law—Musk Says Its ‘Score One’ For Free Speech (Forbes)
Musk Attacks Newsom, Says California’s New Anti-Deepfake Law Makes ‘Parody Illegal’ (Forbes)
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