From: "chine.bleu" <chine.bleu@yahoo.com>
Newsgroups: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh,can.politics,alt.politics.trump,alt.politics.liberalism
Subject: Re: Newsome tries to stop free speech - gets slapped by judge
Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2025 12:18:31 -0700
Organization: semi-chaotic
Alan wrote:
> On 2025-09-04 10:44, NoBody wrote:
>> A federal judge has struck down a California law signed by Gov. Gavin
>> Newsom that prohibits the creation of deepfake images and videos of
>> politicians after conservative Christian satire site Babylon Bee and
>> others sued.
>>
>> In a decision released Friday, U.S. District Judge John Mendez of the
>> Eastern District of California ruled that the Assembly Bill 2839,
>> which bans most deepfakes of political figures, "discriminates based
>> on content, viewpoint, and speaker and targets constitutionally
>> protected speech."
>>
>> "Rather than targeting content that procures tangible harms or
>> materially benefits a speaker, AB 2839 attempts to stifle speech
>> before it occurs or actually harms anyone as long as it is 'reasonably
>> likely' to do so and it allows almost anyone to act as a censorship
>> czar," wrote Mendez, a George W. Bush appointee.
>>
>> "The far-reaching prior restraints AB 2839 implements have not been
>> recognized by First Amendment caselaw thus far and have no
>> historically accepted analogs."
>>
>> California could have tailored the law to "false speech that causes
>> legally cognizable harms like false speech that actually causes voter
>> interference, coercion, or intimidation," Mendez added.
>>
>> "California could also limit the statute's reach to factual statements
>> that are demonstrably false like the time, date, place, or manner of
>> voting," he continued.
>>
>> The Babylon Bee and other plaintiffs were represented by the Alliance
>> Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group that has won First
>> Amendment cases at the Supreme Court level.
>>
>> "Making fun of politicians and criticizing the government is a core
>> First Amendment right. That includes using new technology to create
>> parody campaign ads or satirical memes," ADF Senior Counsel Johannes
>> Widmalm-Delphonse, who argued the case before the court, said in a
>> statement.
>>
>> https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/judge-sides-with-babylon-bee-strikes-down-newsom-s-anti-deepfake-law/ar-AA1LEvJQ
>>
>
> It seems to me the ruling is good, although I'm not familiar with the case.
>
> Of course, my guess would be that you're not either.
State legislatures do stupid things.
As long as the legislatures submit to judicial review, all good in the end.
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