California Court Halts Implementation of Law Criminalizing Political Satire

Legislators do not have the right to ‘bulldoze’ critique, parody, and satire protected under the First Amendment, the court observed.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom in Los Angeles on Sep. 25, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

A California court has issued a preliminary injunction stopping the implementation of a law aimed at preventing the proliferation of altered election-related content, potentially including parody and satire content. The judge ruled that the measure hinders free speech rights.

The Oct. 2 ruling was in response to a lawsuit stemming from an artificial-intelligence (AI)-generated satire video posted by the plaintiff, Christopher Kohls, a social media influencer known by the screen name “Mr Reagan” who posts humorous political content featuring politicians.