X User Sues Over California's Political Deepfake Laws After Elon Musk Shares Parody Video
Brief news summary
A user on X has filed a lawsuit against California in response to the creation of a satirical AI-generated video that mocks Kamala Harris. This legal action follows Governor Gavin Newsom's enactment of new legislation addressing the video's viral success and support from Elon Musk. Amid growing concerns about misinformation, Newsom proposed three bills—Assembly Bills 2839, 2655, and 2355—at the "Dreamforce" AI conference. AB 2839 aims to combat misleading political content close to elections, allowing candidates to seek court orders to remove defamatory deepfakes and to sue distributors, while permitting parody and satire with appropriate disclaimers. Musk has criticized these laws, claiming they infringe on parody rights, and shared the controversial deepfake to increase its visibility. He warned that if Harris prevails in the lawsuit, it could jeopardize free speech, expressing his discontent with both California's government and the Democratic Party.### Summary An X user, who created a parody video using AI to mock Kamala Harris in July and gained attention after Elon Musk shared it, has filed a lawsuit challenging California's new laws aimed at regulating political deepfakes, just a day after Governor Gavin Newsom enacted the legislation. ### Key Points **Breaking News Alerts:** Forbes is launching text message alerts to keep you informed on major headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here for updates. ### Context Following Musk's promotion of the video in July, Newsom committed to signing laws to combat political deepfakes. Musk responded at the time by ridiculing Newsom, asserting that “parody is legal in America. ” On Tuesday, at the “Dreamforce” AI conference, Newsom signed Assembly Bills 2839, 2655, and 2355. AB 2839, which takes effect immediately, prohibits the distribution of “materially deceptive audio or visual media of a candidate” within 120 days leading up to an election and up to 60 days after in certain circumstances. This law permits candidates to request court orders to remove deepfake advertisements and sue their distributors.
However, parody and satire are exempt as long as they include a disclosure. The other two bills, effective next year, compel platforms like X and Facebook to remove such political deepfakes and require campaigns to disclose when they use AI-generated or altered visuals in ads. ### Musk's Response to the New Legislation Musk has maintained his criticism of Newsom following the signing of the laws. He reposted the deepfake video on X, commenting: “You won’t believe it, but Gavin Newsom just announced a LAW making parody illegal based on this video. ” The billionaire, who has shown support for Donald Trump, called for “new leadership” in California and encouraged his followers to make the Harris deepfake video go viral. On Wednesday, Musk escalated his criticism of Newsom, suggesting that a Harris victory in November could lead to nationwide restrictions on free speech, and he shared a Babylon Bee deepfake advertisement aimed at Newsom. ### Additional Information
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X User Sues Over California's Political Deepfake Laws After Elon Musk Shares Parody Video
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