Federal Court Blocks Gavin Newsom's AB 2839 Banning Political Parody and AI Election Content

Oct 2, 2024, 11:21 PM

A federal court has ruled that California's recent law banning election-related "misinformation," including political parody and AI-generated political content, is unconstitutional. The law, known as AB 2839, was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom just two weeks prior and was motivated in part by a parody of Vice President Kamala Harris shared by Elon Musk. The legislation also targeted Elon Musk's AI product, Grok. The court cited First Amendment concerns, stating 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 and unfettered exchange of ideas." The judge further emphasized that "especially as to political speech, counter speech is the tried and true buffer and elixir, not speech restriction." The injunction blocks the implementation of the law, signaling that it is likely unconstitutional.