Table of Contents
ֱ statement on California's 'deceptive media' law
Karin Hildebrand Lau / Shutterstock.com
Below is a statement from ֱ Director of Public Advocacy Aaron Terr on the passage of A.B. 2839, California's new "deceptive media" law:
In targeting “deceptive” political content, California’s new law threatens satire, parody, and other First Amendment-protected speech.
A.B. 2839 bans sharing “deceptive” digitally modified content about candidates for office for any purpose. That means sharing such content even to criticize it or point out it’s fake could violate the law.
The law also requires satire and parody to be labeled, like requiring a comedian to preface every joke with an announcement he’s making a joke. That’s not funny — it’s scary.
Whatever concerns exist about AI-generated expression, violating the First Amendment isn’t the way to address them.
Recent Articles
Get the latest free speech news and analysis from ֱ.
How schools still abuse ‘institutional neutrality’ to silence speech
2025 sets new record for attempts to silence student speech, ֱ research finds
Texas runs afoul of the First Amendment with new limits on faculty course materials