Cracking down on free speech appears to be a popular position on the left these days. Hillary Clinton said Americans who spread misinformation should face criminal penalties. Kamala Harris pledged recently to hold social media companies accountable for the spread of “misinformation.” And then there’s her running mate Tim Walz saying there’s “no guarantee to free speech on misinformation.” But none of these Democrats has take it as far (yet) as California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who was triggered by a fake Harris ad Elon Musk shared, which was clearly labeled “PARODY.” On Tuesday, the Democrat signed a bill into law that makes it illegal to use artificial intelligence to create fake images or videos related to elections 120 before Election Day and 60 days after.
“Safeguarding the integrity of elections is essential to democracy, and it’s critical that we ensure AI is not deployed to undermine the public’s trust through disinformation -– especially in today’s fraught political climate,” Newsom said in a statement. “These measures will help to combat the harmful use of deepfakes in political ads and other content, one of several areas in which the state is being proactive to foster transparent and trustworthy AI.”
In a post highlighting the new law, which takes effect immediately, Newsom references his tweet from July about his effort to crack down on deepfakes.
I just signed a bill to make this illegal in the state of California.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 17, 2024
You can no longer knowingly distribute an ad or other election communications that contain materially deceptive content -- including deepfakes. https://t.co/VU4b8RBf6N
This one. https://t.co/caPN3Zf1Rn
— Dalton Sutton (@daltonsuttonio) September 18, 2024
The post says “PARODY” in all caps!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 18, 2024
So, is he going to throw @nbcsnl in jail or what!?
You’re not gonna believe this, but @GavinNewsom just announced that he signed a LAW to make parody illegal, based on this video 🤣🤣 https://t.co/bdykNuxe6G
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 18, 2024
In some of the responses to Newsom's effort, he was reminded that parody is protected free speech.
BREAKING: The Babylon Bee has obtained this exclusive, official, 100% real Gavin Newsom election ad. https://t.co/nicrnKF5Ji pic.twitter.com/iksPVxltzI
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) September 18, 2024
Come get me, Gavin https://t.co/wlQy36uJj8 pic.twitter.com/GSn3B08Fog
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) September 17, 2024
Uh oh… the Kamala HQ account is in trouble… https://t.co/g2CfBO2TeI pic.twitter.com/DagOs3ElJg
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 18, 2024
I CANNOT WAIT for this to be tossed out by the courts 🍿 https://t.co/7HRNrOLLa7
— Senator Melissa Melendez (@senatormelendez) September 18, 2024
The Constitution disagrees; the First Amendment protects parodies. Is South Park banned in California now? https://t.co/k5Q7gg6Ww3
— Nicole Shanahan (@NicoleShanahan) September 18, 2024
