Babylon Bee sues Gov Gavin Newsom, California over anti-satire laws

The Babylon Bee is suing California over the state’s new laws against AI and deepfakes surrounding elections, which the satire site says are not only an attack on free speech but a pointed attempt to erase humor from politics. The Babylon Bee is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, who filed a complaint on Monday. The court challenge, they note, is over "two California laws that censor online content, including political satire and parody."

The laws, AB 2839 and AB 2655, are intended to prevent anyone from posting or sharing content that is "materially deceptive" or that compromises a candidate’s “electoral prospects” before an election in the form of AI generated content or deepfakes. This prohibition includes satire or comedic content. Creators will be made to label their content as satire, AI generated, etc.

Another law tells social media platforms that they should be alert to contraventions of the state’s new code or face legal consequences, The Washington Times reported. The California laws insist that anyone posting political satire – the bread and butter of the Babylon Bee – attach a disclaimer that the following material is not to be taken seriously, which sort of circumvents the thrust of any satirical journalism.

“Unfortunately for them, the First Amendment secures our right to tell jokes they don’t like,” Bee CEO Seth Dillon said. Kelly Chang Rickert, a lawyer who posts regularly on social media about politics, is joining the Bee in its lawsuit.

“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,” said ADF Vice President of Litigation Strategy and Center for Conscience Initiatives Jonathan Scruggs. “Gov. Newsom has no constitutional authority to act as the humor police. While lawmakers act as if posting and resharing memes is a threat to democracy, these laws at the end of the day censor speech California politicians don’t like. We are urging the court to affirm that the First Amendment protects The Babylon Bee’s and Ms. Rickert’s freedom to poke fun at political leaders.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) became infuriated after AI-made satire videos showed Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris looking ridiculous as she identified as the “ultimate diversity hire” while real clips of Harris at work are played among invented ones. It "should be illegal," Newsom said.

The California legislature said it was attempting to deal with the “first-ever artificial intelligence (AI) election,” when it promulgated the anti-satire laws.

“In a few clicks, using current technology, bad actors now have the power to create a false image of a candidate accepting a bribe, or a fake video of an elections official ‘caught on tape’ saying that voting machines are not secure, or generate an artificial robocall in the governor’s voice telling millions of Californians their voting site has changed,” the legislature declared in trying to justify the laws, The Times noted.