Babylon Bee Sues New Mexico Over Law Requiring Disclosures on AI-Generated Satire

A New Mexico law requiring AI-generated political content to include disclosures that it was created by artificial intelligence is facing a legal challenge, arguing labels will ruin its jokes and violate the First Amendment. In 2024, lawmakers in the Land of Enchantment passed HB 182, requiring individuals who make an advertisement with “materially deceptive media” to “include a disclaimer” that the media “has been manipulated or generated by artificial intelligence.” The law states that satire and parody content must also include the disclaimer. Violations of the law can lead to fines of up to $1,000.A satirical site, the Babylon Bee, filed a lawsuit against New Mexico on Tuesday, arguing that the requirement to add a warning label violates the First Amendment. The CEO of the Babylon Bee, Seth Dillon, said in a statement, “We’re used to getting pulled over by the joke police, but comedy isn’t a crime.”“The First Amendment protects our right to create AI satire poking fun at political candidates. We’ll never stop fighting to defend that freedom,” Mr. Dillon said.The Babylon Bee says it does not want to post content with AI labels because it believes that such disclosures would interfere with the satire it shares. “This disclaimer alters the content of the satire and parody The Bee wants to express by alerting the viewer to the satirical or parodical nature of the communication and thereby depriving the expression of its rhetorical force,” the lawsuit reads. “Put simply, HB 182 spoils the joke as it begins, each and every time.”A lawyer for the firm representing the Babylon Bee, the Alliance Defending Freedom, Logan Spena, said, “New Mexico is censoring political speech it dislikes. We should not trust the government to decide what is true in our political debate.”“The Babylon Bee is seeking to uphold its fundamental right to speak freely and ensure that our political system remains one of self-government,” Mr. Spena said. The lawsuit seeks to stop New Mexico’s ethics commission from enforcing the law. A spokesman for the commission said in a statement that the litigation is “baseless” since the law has not yet been enforced.“The Commission has never taken action to enforce the AI-disclaimer requirements in Section 1-19-26.4 of the Campaign Reporting Act, much less for political parody and satire,” the spokesman said. “While the Babylon Bee has a First Amendment right to mock New Mexico, it does not have a right to extract attorneys’ fees from the State.”The Babylon Bee successfully challenged a law in Hawaii that prohibited election-related media that made it appear someone did or said something that they actually did not do or say. In January, a federal judge, Shanlyn Park, granted summary judgment to the Babylon Bee, finding that the law violated the First Amendment.“Political speech, of course, is at the core of what the First Amendment is designed to protect,” Judge Park wrote in her decision. Candidates this election cycle have used AI-generated videos and ads that have garnered significant attention online. A former Los Angeles mayor, Spencer Pratt, produced several AI-generated videos that went viral, such as one that depicted him as Batman fighting crime. The Republican gubernatorial nominee in New York, Bruce Blakeman, has frequently shared AI-generated campaign ads that depict New York Governor Kathy Hochul, which sometimes include the AI-generated Hochul speaking. The ads often do not feature disclaimers to inform viewers they were generated by artificial intelligence.Earlier this week, the New York State Democratic Party chairman, Jay Jacobs, filed a complaint with the state Board of Elections raising concerns about Mr. Blakeman’s use of AI. “It’s important that people are held accountable, the law is very clear,” Mr. Jacobs said. “We thought that it was just silly nonsense early on, but now it’s become clear that this is the way he’s going to conduct his campaign.”Mr. Jacobs said Mr. Blakeman’s AI videos violate a 2024 law requiring campaign ads to include labels informing viewers when they were generated by AI. The Republican gubernatorial nominee says he is not violating the New York law because it includes an exception for satire and he does not plan to stop using AI-generated content.

Babylon Bee Sues New Mexico Over Law Requiring Disclosures on AI-Generated Satire

Babylon Bee Sues New Mexico Over Law Requiring Disclosures on AI-Generated Satire

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