Newsom fires first shot in Democrats' Anti-First Amendment campaign with 'Anti-Musk' bill

Gavin Newsom has launched the first live-fire barrage of the Democrats' campaign against the First Amendment by signing a law that prohibits distributing "an ad or other election communication that contains materially deceptive content—including deepfakes" in California. The law aims to prevent publications like a video parodying Kamala Harris, made with artificial intelligence, that Elon Musk helped viralize in July. This move reflects a broader effort by prominent Democrats to limit free speech under the guise of combating what they consider fake news. Last Monday, Hillary Clinton called for the criminal prosecution of those who spread misinformation, and Harris has shown herself as being favorable to the control of information on several occasions.

A law passed in less than two months

In contrast to the 16 years that have passed since he promised to end homelessness, Newsom has kept his word that he would ban such content "within a few weeks." In fact, it has taken barely six before the AB2655 was approved by the Golden State Legislature and he himself affixed his signature to it since on July 29, the Californian governor himself warned in a publication in X:

"Manipulating a voice in an 'ad' like this should be illegal. I’ll be signing a bill in a matter of weeks to make sure it is."

Complaints about the law will be prioritized in court

The "Anti-Musk" rule, dubbed by proponents as the Law to Defend Democracy from Deepfake Hoax, "prohibits any person, committee, or other entity from distributing, with actual malice, materially deceptive audio or visual media of a candidate for elective office with the intent to injure the candidate’s reputation or to deceive a voter into voting for or against the candidate, within 60 days of the election.." In addition, the courts will prioritize election-related complaints and "actions related to the above prohibition against materially misleading media."

In addition, the legislation requires "a large online platform, as defined, to block the publication of materially misleading content related to elections in California during specified periods before and after an election. The bill would force a large online platform to label certain additional content as inauthentic, false or misleading during specified periods before and after a California election."

Also included are measures to "require a large online platform to develop procedures for California residents to report content that has not been blocked or labeled in compliance with the act. The bill would also authorize candidates for elected office, elected officials, elections officials, the Attorney General, and a district attorney or city attorney to seek injunctive relief against a large online platform for noncompliance with the act, as specified, and would assign precedence to such actions when they are filed in court."

Elon Musk, between mockery and concern for democracy

Musk himself was responding with a mix of mockery and concern to Newsom's initiative. After laughing at the passing of "a law to outlaw parody" and joking asking about the video causing the uproar, he warned of the danger that this type of rules have for democracy, warning of the model to reach a tyranny:

Criticism of the networks against the measure

The news generated a great stir in the networks, which accuse Newsom of taking the initiative within the Democratic Party in the crusade to control political information and censor as disinformation the news that are not to his liking.

A Democrat crusade against the First Amendment

What is certain is that this is not an isolated move on the Blue Party political spectrum. The rule signed by Newsom follows in the wake of prominent Democrats who have been calling for taking stronger measures against those who spread what they consider "disinformation." Without going any further, Hillary Clinton said in an interview last Monday, just hours after the second attack against Trump, that those who publish this type of content be "criminally" prosecuted:

Harris would prioritize prosecution of speech through DOJ

Kamala Harris herself, whose Administration has been characterized by pressures on media and social networks to remove content or block users with thoughts that disagree with them, has also been supportive of information control:

Tim Walz puts limits on the First Amendment: It´s about whatever the Democrats don't like

A message that, as denounced by Robert Kennedy Jr, is also on the lips of the Democratic vice presidential candidate, Tim Walz: