We brought you the story of how a hilarious campaign parody video by the social media account “Mr Reagan” so triggered California Governor Gavin Newsom that he quickly signed a bill banning the production or dissemination of videos made with the use of artificial intelligence during election season.
Many pundits including myself immediately called it what it was: unconstitutional.
On Wednesday, a federal court agreed and slapped an injunction on the law.
Take that, Gavin:
California’s recent ban on election-related “misinformation,” including political parody, is unconstitutional, a federal court has just ruled. Free speech, not censorship, is the solution to bad info. Wonderful repudiation of totalitarians @GavinNewsom @KamalaHarris & @Tim_Walz pic.twitter.com/YiUmyChqu4
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) October 2, 2024
Background: ‘Mr Reagan’ Strikes Again—Destroys Gavin Newsom and His Lies in Parody Video
California’s Thugs in Government Get Sued for Their Blatant Violation of the First Amendment
Friday Funnies: Hilarious Parody Campaign Ad Beautifully Exposes Kamala’s Monumental Flaws
“Mr Reagan,” whose real name is Chris Kohls, filed suit claiming the law was an obvious violation of the First Amendment. The court appeared to agree in no uncertain terms:
Chris Kohls, known as “Mr Reagan” on X, sued to prevent the state from enforcing the law after posting an AI-generated video of a Harris campaign ad on the social media site. He claimed the video was protected by the First Amendment because it was a parody.
The judge agreed.
“Most of [the law] acts as a hammer instead of a scalpel,” Senior U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez wrote, calling it “a blunt tool hinders humorous expression and unconstitutionally stifles the free and unfettered exchange of ideas.” He carved out an exception for a “not unduly burdensome” portion of the law that requires verbal disclosure of digitally altered content in audio-only recordings.
Parody site the Babylon Bee filed their own lawsuit, arguing that the law basically would outlaw their (high-quality) brand of humor:
The Babylon Bee filed a lawsuit against the state of California on Monday after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a series of “deepfake” laws that target outlets that publish satire and parody.
The complaint explains that one of California’s new laws will require social media platforms to become “state snitches” and force them “to field reports about user posts with ‘materially deceptive content’ and then remove or label them.”
In his first public statement on the lawsuit, Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon told Daily Wire news podcast “Morning Wire” that one of the new California laws especially targets satirists, such as the writers at his company, “by requiring them to put disclaimers to let you know that this is parody that you’re reading right now – which completely stifles and kills the joke.”
For now, at least, Judge John Mendez has put a stop to the nonsense, writing, “‘Kohls is likely to succeed in showing’ that the California law is unconstitutional.”
The governor of California just made this parody video illegal in violation of the Constitution of the United States.
Would be a shame if it went viral. https://t.co/OCBewC4vOb
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 18, 2024
Democrats have become so extreme in their constant assaults on the Constitution, especially on the First and Second Amendments, that some are openly calling on us to “rip up that piece of paper.” Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Gavin Newsom, Nancy Pelosi, and Biden-Harris have all called into question the Electoral College, the First Amendment, the Supreme Court, and more.
The two corrupt Adams – Schiff and Kinzinger – are correct; there is a danger to democracy in our country right now, and it’s called the Democrat party. Good for Mr Reagan for telling Gov. Hair Gel where to put it, and good for Judge Mendez for slapping down (at least for now) Gavin’s latest power grab.
There’s even more good news, however: the story affords me the opportunity to stick a figurative finger in the eye of the governor who has helped lead the decline of the Golden State and to post Mr Reagan’s latest hilarious creation (it’s PARODY, Gavin):
Kamala Harris Ad PARODY 5 pic.twitter.com/n0evSEH6GY
— Mr Reagan 🇺🇸 (@MrReaganUSA) September 30, 2024
Laugh at this, and keep laughing at them until we win.
