Federal judge blocks California law banning election deepfakes [Video]

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked a California bill that outlaws AI-generated “deepfake” content and required the removal of “deceptive content” from social media. 

The preliminary injunction comes just two weeks after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the controversial measure into law, igniting a spat with X owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. It also comes roughly a month before Election Day. 

The Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute had filed a lawsuit on behalf of Christopher Kohls, known as “Mr Reagan” online, who created satirical political videos, including one calling out the governor targeted as being “illegal” under the bill he signed. 

In the lawsuit, Reagan argued that the bill was unconstitutional. 

“The court agreed, granting a preliminary injunction that finds California has no ‘license to bulldoze over the longstanding tradition of critique, parody, and satire protected by the First Amendment,’” HLLI said in a news release. “HLLI does not know whether California intends to …