Elon Musk and X notch court win against California deepfake law

Politico

2 hours ago

The first law would have blocked online platforms from hosting deceptive, AI-generated content related to an election in the run-up to the vote. It came amid heightened concerns about the rapid advancement and accessibility of artificial intelligence, allowing everyday users to quickly create more realistic images and videos, and the potential political impacts.
But opponents of the measures, like Musk, also argued the restrictions could infringe upon freedom of expression.
The original challenge was filed by the creator of the video, Christopher Kohls, on First Amendment grounds, with X later joining the case after Musk said the measures were 'designed to make computer-generated parody illegal.' The satirical right-wing news website the Babylon Bee and conservative social media site Rumble also joined the suit.
The Harris video had depicted her describing herself as the 'ultimate diversity hire.'
Mendez said the first law, penned by Democratic state Assemblymember Marc Berman, conflicted with the oft-cited Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, which shields online platforms from liability for what third parties post on their sites. 'They don't have anything to do with these videos that the state is objecting to,' Mendez said of sites like X that host deepfakes.
But the judge did not address the First Amendment claims made by Kohls, saying it was not necessary in order to strike down the law on Section 230 grounds.
'I'm simply not reaching that issue,' Mendez told the plaintiffs' attorneys.
Neither Newsom's office nor the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta immediately responded to requests for comment. Berman's office declined to comment and the office of Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, the Democrat who authored the second law, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.