Judge Pauses Newsom’s Deepfakes Law: Legislators Can’t ‘Bulldoze’ First Amendment Out of ‘Fear’
“When political speech and electoral politics are at issue, the First Amendment has almost unequivocally dictated that Courts allow speech to flourish rather than uphold the State’s attempt to suffocate it.”
Oh man. Senior U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, humiliated California Gov. Gavin Newsom in his order that paused the governor’s law blocking “deepfakes.”
Chris Kohls, the maker of the VP Kamala Harris video at the center of the issue, sued Newsom.
This line from Mendez, you guys:
“Supreme Court precedent illuminates that while a wellfounded fear of a digitally manipulated media landscape may be justified, this fear does not give legislators unbridled license to bulldoze over the longstanding tradition of critique, parody, and satire protected by the First Amendment,” wrote Mendez.
Newsom’s law banned digitally altered political “images and audio impersonating candidates.”
Newsom threw a fit when Elon Musk “shared” the AI-altered video of Harris in July.
This is amazing 😂
pic.twitter.com/KpnBKGUUwn— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 26, 2024
Newsom’s companion law forced social media platforms to remove these “deepfakes” when users flagged them.
Another law required disclaimers on the AI ads.
“When political speech and electoral politics are at issue, the First Amendment has almost unequivocally dictated that Courts allow speech to flourish rather than uphold the State’s attempt to suffocate it,” continued Mendez.
OUCH. BURN. I love it.
If you know me, then you know I despise censorship. I hate all censorship. All of it.
Mendez also slammed the disclaimer requirement, calling it burdensome. He cited the 1988 SCOTUS case Hustler Magazine v. Falwell.
The obstructiveness of this requirement is concerning because parody and satire have relayed creative and important messages in American politics,” Mendez reminded Newsom. “As the Supreme Court has noted, ‘[d]espite their sometimes caustic nature, from the early cartoon portraying George Washington as an ass down to the present day, graphic depictions and satirical cartoons have played a prominent role in public and political debate.'”
Therefore, Mendez believes Kohls will likely succeed with his claim of free speech.
We know what the First Amendment says. How about the California Constitution?
Mendez wrote:
Art. 1 Section 2(a) of California’s Constitution states that “[e]very person may freely speak, write and publish his or her sentiments on all subjects,” and “[a] law may not restrain or abridge liberty of speech. . . .” Cal. Const. art I, § 2(a). Federal courts in California considering state and federal free speech claims have interpreted these rights as largely coextensive, with California’s Liberty of Speech Clause providing broader protections than the First Amendment.
Under current case law, the California state right to freedom of speech is at least as protective as its federal counterpart. Given that Plaintiff is likely to succeed on the federal First Amendment facial challenge, it follows that Plaintiff is also likely to succeed on his state free speech claim. In accordance with the First Amendment facial analysis discussed above, the Court finds that AB 2839 is also unconstitutional under California’s free speech provision and finds that Plaintiff is likely to succeed on his state constitutional claim.
I could never be a judge. I’m not diplomatic. I’d simply write, “Suck it, Newsom.”
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Comments
Only SCOTUS and 2nd A stand between them and the constitution
Perhaps Devine Providence will put Trump back in a position to fortify SCOTUS again. Some of our conservative justices are getting old.
only the blood willing to be spilled to protect is what stops or will stop them
they are evil they are leftist
The classic liberal genie is difficult to stuff back in the bottle….even more so when it swaps sides.
Gov. Noisome’s short fuse and thin skin make him the perfect target for mockery, derision, and ridicule. We should all make it a priority to laugh him out of politics before he can scheme is way into higher office.
…his way…
Greasy and vile Newsolini and the rest of the Dhimmi-crat apparatchik elites are unabashed, brazen and obnoxiously lawless totalitarians.
During the Wuhan virus onset, Biden’s handlers/chaperones/puppeteers intimidated/coerced Facebook and other tech companies to suppress and remove content that was critical of the “vaccines” and lockdowns, and, even content that was critical of dotard Biden and other prominent Dhimmi-crats.
Like the goose-stepping Muslim supremacists and Islamofascists whom they are gleefully aligned with, the vile, evil and stupid Dhimmi-crats cannot countenance even a scintilla of criticism, mockery and ridicule.
Biden’s lackeys intimidated Facebook and other platforms to censor and suppress not merely content that was critical of Biden and Dhimmi-crats, but, more pointedly, content that satirized them and mocked them — to clarify.
The Left isn’t having a knee jerk about fear as they NEED to block 1A for The Good of the Party ™ and “Their Precious Democracy” (circa 1917 Moscow).
“So it is really hard, much harder to build consensus today than at any time in the 40-50 years I’ve been involved in this…. But look, if people only go to one source, and the source they go to is sick, and, you know, has an agenda and they’re putting out disinformation, our First Amendment stands as a major block to be able to just, you know, hammer it out of existence.” — John Kerry
If he thinks the First Amendment is a major block to cementing his artificial “consensus,” wait until he finds out about the Second.
Well, Kerry does have a point — a substantial portion of the population only gets their information from the MSM, never hearing the other side, never hearing a complete set of facts. This does make it impossible for the nation to move together as a unified body as the brainwashed irrationally struggle against fictional fears and hoaxes.
It’s like we need a corps of deprogramming volunteers to coax these victims of the press out of darkness to create a preference cascade towards common sense.
John Kerry has never been known as the brightest crayon in the box
Gavin isn’t smart. Clown show.
Pols have been telling lies about each other, and people have been believing them, since forever. What has changed? Today the Dems know they can lie about an opponent (grab ’em by the pu**y, fine people, inject bleach) and know the MSM echo chamber will have a large portion of the electorate believing those lies. But their lies are OK?
What’s not OK is that AI gives Joe Schmoe the ability to create a convincing fake that can grow legs and be believed by millions, and Mr. Scmoe may not be a Democrat. That’s what has changed.
Much like most of what Biden is attempting to do at a national level, Gov Hair Gel knew it would never pass Constitutional muster and didn’t care. It’s all about the optics.