California Anti-Deepfake Law Blocked for Speech Burden (1)

A California federal judge temporarily blocked a law, blasted by Elon Musk, that bans AI-generated election “deepfakes” in the state.

AB 2839, which Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed Sept. 17, isn’t the least restrictive way the state could protect its interest in election integrity and reliability, wrote Judge John A. Mendez in the US District Court for the Eastern District of California. Therefore, it doesn’t pass the high bar needed for a law that burdens speech.

“YouTube videos, Facebook posts, and X tweets are the newspaper advertisements and political cartoons of today, and the First Amendment protects an individual’s ...