California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new anti-deepfake law, targeting the use of manipulated content in the 60 days before an election, has been blocked by a federal judge. The Wednesday ruling was celebrated by X owner Elon Musk, who had criticized Newsom’s recently-signed law as an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment.
U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez agreed, saying AB2839 gave legislators “unbridled license to bulldoze over the longstanding tradition of critique, parody, and satire protected by the First Amendment.”
AB2839, which Newsom had signed just two weeks ago, prohibited the “distribution of materially deceptive audio or visual media of a candidate” within two months of an election, unless the post included a disclosure that the content was a deepfake.
Newsom had pushed for the law after Musk shared a deepfake parody ad this summer of Kamala Harris. In the deepfake ad, Harris thanked President Joe Biden for exposing “his senility” in his debate with Donald Trump, before saying she was the “ultimate diversity hire.” The clip has been viewed 136.4 million times, according to X’s stats.
“Manipulating a voice in an ‘ad’ like this one should be illegal,” Newsom posted in response. “I’ll be signing a bill in a matter of weeks to make sure it is.”
Judge Mendez, in his ruling, said California has a “valid interest in protecting the integrity and reliability” of elections, but that the new law against deepfakes went too far. The law, Mendez said, was a “blunt tool that hinders humorous expression and unconstitutionally stifles the free and unfettered exchange of ideas.”
Musk celebrated the judge’s decision on Wednesday.
“California’s unconstitutional law infringing on your freedom of speech has been blocked by the court,” Musk posted. “Yay!”
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