A Victory for Free Speech in California

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that California’s law prohibiting what it called “election-related misinformation” doesn’t pass constitutional muster; the First Amendment protects political parody and satire even when readers might be fooled by it.

The decision by U.S. District Judge John Mendez is a win for Christopher Kohls, who goes by the handle “Mr. Reagan” on X. His deepfake-style ads use hyperbole to mock progressive candidates, like Kamala Harris. Here’s an example:

California’s law was so broad it barred any deceptive communications likely to hurt a candidate’s reputation or electoral chances. Lawmakers should have known this could be interpreted to criminalize a great deal of political speech that relies on effective overstatement, hyperbole, and comical inference. Lawmakers may try to rewrite the law to meet the “least restrictive” tests that content-based speech laws require under our constitution. We hope they give up the project altogether.

The very fact that Kohls was being harassed under the law demonstrates just one fatal problem with it. Under such a legal regime, there would almost by necessity be unequal enforcement. Famous and politically favored entertainers like Stephen Colbert would be immune to such prosecution, but citizen creators who are disfavored by the government, sharing their work across social media, would be hounded. The Babylon Bee, the well-known Evangelical-led satire site, is filing a similar lawsuit against California’s laws in the next week. We hope it prevails swiftly.

What may be bothering California’s lawmakers is that the means for making and distributing forms of political propaganda are being democratized. Average citizens, rather than just media behemoths, can now make their influence felt, amplified by social-media companies such as X that remain outside the progressive blob’s direct control and facilitate their material going viral.

As the election approaches, we expect to hear more low and treacherous excuses for why American citizens shouldn’t enjoy their First Amendment rights (Tim Walz retailed some during the VP debate). But we trust that the public and the judiciary won’t fall for it.