By CatholicVote | Created at 2024-10-31 18:16:36 | Updated at 2024-10-31 21:28:53
3 hours ago
CV NEWS FEED // California officials have agreed they cannot enforce a new state law restricting political satire and parody online, allowing The Babylon Bee and social media personality Kelly Chang Rickert to freely share their content as their legal case proceeds.
The law imposes restrictions on satirical political content, requiring disclaimers and allowing lawsuits for content deemed “materially deceptive” around election time.
The concession follows a federal district court ruling that Assembly Bill 2839 likely violates the First Amendment, according to a report from the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
ADF, representing The Babylon Bee and Rickert, filed the case last month, challenging both AB 2839 and AB 2655, which Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law on September 17.
“California’s war against political memes is censorship, plain and simple,” said ADF Vice President of Litigation Strategy Jonathan Scruggs. “We shouldn’t trust the government to decide what is true in our online political debates.”
The laws sparked swift reactions after Newsom commented on a parody video of Vice President Kamala Harris, which he claimed “should be illegal.” State legislators fast-tracked the new restrictions, prompting The Babylon Bee and Rickert to seek legal protection.
“Gov. Newsom has no constitutional authority to act as the humor police,” Scruggs said, according to the report. He criticized lawmakers for treating the sharing of memes as a serious “threat to democracy,” arguing that such laws primarily serve to censor speech that doesn’t align with their preferences.
Rickert also expressed her views, stating that her personal blog and social media accounts shouldn’t require the governor’s “stamp of approval,” according to the ADF.
“This attempt to silence humor and other content that appeals to me and my audience is a blatant misuse of power to silence dissent,” she said.
Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon agreed.
“Our job is hard enough when our jokes keep coming true, as if they were prophecies,” Dillon said. “But it becomes significantly more difficult when self-serving politicians abuse their power to try to control public discourse and clamp down on comedy. Unfortunately for them, the First Amendment secures our right to tell jokes they don’t like.”
