According to the governor’s office, the new laws expand upon regulations governing communications and campaign commercials that were approved years ago.
However, a conservative poster going by the handle @MrReaganUSA is contesting two of the three new statutes in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, News has learned. After Newsom signed the bills, the account shared an AI-generated spoof of a Harris campaign ad, which later surfaced and gained widespread attention.
“This suppresses free speech, especially for political pundits like Mr. Reagan who depend on social media viewership and use satire to criticize public figures.”
The bill, according to Newsom’s office, will force all satirical or parodic content to either remove its content or post a disclaimer label indicating that the video has been digitally altered. It will not, however, outlaw memes or parodies. Additionally exempt from the legislation is “Materially deceptive content that constitutes satire or parody.”
However, in an interview with Fox News Digital, Theodore Frank, the attorney for the account holder suing California, stated that one of the rules would mandate that social media companies have “a large censorship apparatus and respond to complaints within 36 hours.”
