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Judge Blocks California's Deepfake Law on First Amendment Grounds

Oct 3, 2024, 12:03 AM

A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of California's new law restricting election-related deepfakes, less than two weeks after Governor Gavin Newsom signed it into law. The law, known as AB 2839, aimed to prohibit 'materially deceptive' deepfakes pertaining to political campaigns. The judge ruled that the law likely violates the First Amendment, stating that it "acts as a hammer instead of a scalpel, serving as a blunt tool that hinders humorous expression and unconstitutionally stifles the free and unfettered exchange of ideas." The legislation had been motivated in part by a deepfake video of Vice President Kamala Harris shared by Elon Musk, which had sparked a public dispute between Musk and Newsom. In response to the ruling, a spokesperson for Governor Newsom said, "Deepfakes threaten the integrity of our elections, and these new laws protect our democracy while preserving free speech—in a manner no more stringent than those in other contexts." The court's decision is seen as a significant setback to efforts to regulate AI-generated content in political campaigns.