California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a new strict censorship law that makes it illegal to distribute or produce AI political videos during election season. Tell me if this does not violate the First Amendment.
The new law is the most strict in the country and takes effect immediately. It aims to clamp down on false content that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to create images or videos.
It is illegal to publish and create deepfakes 60 days before Election Day. The Associated Press reports that the law allows courts to stop the distribution of materials and impose fines.
The backlash was immediate. Former Republican State Sen. Melissa Melendez predicted that this law would have a short shelf-life:
I CANNOT WAIT for this to be tossed out by the courts 🍿 https://t.co/7HRNrOLLa7
— Senator Melissa Melendez (@senatormelendez) September 18, 2024
The Fire, a group that advocates free speech, argues this isn’t the best way to combat the AI problems.
California’s new laws threaten First Amendment-protected speech by targeting “deceptive political content”.
A.B. 2839 bans sharing “deceptive” digitally modified content about candidates for office for any purpose. That means sharing such content even to criticize it or point out it’s fake could violate the law.
A comedian must announce that he is making a joke before every joke.
It’s not funny, it’s frightening. Violation of the First Amendment won’t address any concerns about AI-generated speech.
Newsom’s anger was sparked by Musk’s (hysterical), Kamala Harris campaign advertisement that he retweeted, without telling anyone a fact that should have been obvious to everyone: it was a fake. When it first came out, I wrote about this “commercial”.
Gavin, however, became irritable and did not appreciate the humor. He said the measure was a direct response to Musk’s post.
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
Musk is like a hornet’s nest. If you poke him, he will come at you with a swarm. He mocked Gov. Palin with several tweets. On Tuesday, he retweeted a fake Kamala advertisement (which has currently been viewed by 55 million people) that upset him. Grumpy:
The governor of California just made this parody video illegal in violation of the Constitution of the United States.
Would be a shame if it went viral. https://t.co/OCBewC4vOb
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 18, 2024
Remember that I said it was like poking the hornet’s nest. You’ll likely get bitten multiple times. The X owner sent out another fake video on Wednesday. This one was produced by the parody website The Babylon Bee. Note to Mr. Newsom, the Bee is a parody website. If they get in trouble with this absurd new law, I’m certain their lawyers will let them know.
This is a brilliant and brutal film.
His best ad ever 😂 https://t.co/NDa85XAY4t
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 18, 2024
I’m not a lawyer and I don’t play one on television. I can’t give a legal analysis in detail. I am confident that the law will face a lot of litigation and could be overturned.
As AI becomes more powerful, sensible laws will need to be considered. As such, I am not at all comfortable with people like Gavin Newsom deciding what we can or cannot say. The Democrats have shown over the last three-and-a-half years that they are committed to censorship, and shutting out opposing views.
