California agreed it could not legally enforce a law (AB 2839) against “materially deceptive” political content, including memes and parodies of elected officials, by the Christian conservative satire site The Babylon Bee under a joint stipulation Tuesday with Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office.
U.S. District Judge John Mendez already blocked the law, which claims it targets “deepfakes,” in a separate legal challenge by “Mr Reagan” Chris Kohls earlier this month, ruling that YouTube videos and social media posts are the “newspaper advertisements and political cartoons of today.”
“This case was subsequently transferred to the Eastern District of California and assigned to this Court. All parties have agreed to consolidate this case with Kohls v. Bonta in a separate stipulation filed concurrently with this Court,” the filing says. The parties agree the “plain language” of the injunction applies to the Bee and the other plaintiff, law blogger Kelly Rickert.
“The Babylon Bee and Rickert are now free to post their political content online during the current election season without fear of violating the law while the case continues,” their lawyers at the Alliance Defending Freedom said Tuesday. […]
— Read More: justthenews.com
