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Dear Friend,

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed new laws censoring free speech. He’s now targeting...political memes?

Yes, you read that right.

According to two new California laws, officials can punish you for posting a political meme online if they think it’s potentially deceptive about a candidate—even if it’s satire or parody.

While the laws mention “deepfakes” and “disinformation,” their scope goes much broader than that.

That means reposting an article from satire sites like the Babylon Bee could land you in a legal battle, if government officials don’t like the joke.

This is a direct threat to free speech—it's blatant censorship. It’s the stuff we expect of oppressive regimes in China and other authoritarian governments.

And yet it’s happening here. That’s why we filed a case on behalf of the Babylon Bee and a California-based attorney to challenge these unconstitutional laws.

The two laws are incredibly vague, leaving the door open to potentially widespread censorship when the government dislikes what people say.

In the name of curtailing disinformation, the first law bans “materially deceptive content”—digitally altered media depicting candidates saying or doing something they didn’t if it could potentially harm their “electoral prospects.”

It bans posting and reposting this content online.

The standards for what speech would violate the law are blurry at best.

In practice, it could mean that a California politician who doesn’t like how a post depicts them could sue a private citizen for posting or reposting it. Or someone’s neighbor in California who has opposing political views could see a post they disagree with and sue the poster, forcing them to take down the post and pay damages and attorneys’ fees.

In an already hyperpolarized political environment, this is a chilling prospect.

Humor is also targeted. Satire and parody posts must have disclaimers to say that they are jokes—which kills the joke.

The second law targets internet platforms like X and Facebook, requiring them to sometimes label and other times take down posts with “materially deceptive content” about candidates and elections.

This isn’t the first instance of government censorship we’ve seen in the US—and it likely won’t be the last.

Censorship is on the rise around the globe.

The Middle East. China. And even in so-called “progressive” countries in Europe.

If this law in California goes unchecked, we could see this same kind of authoritarian censorship reach our shores. It sets up an environment where people who criticize government officials can be punished and their speech censored from public discourse.

Vague laws that censor political speech under the guise of combating “misinformation” or protecting “public safety” are a direct threat to our rights. It enables people in power to become the arbiters of truth.

The government shouldn’t be allowed to quiet certain voices just because it disagrees with what they have to say. That’s not freedom.

We’re taking action to challenge these unconstitutional laws in California and censorship around the world—but support from friends like you is needed to keep up this work. Will you step up with a gift right now to help stop these threats to our God-given rights?

For freedom,

Alliance Defending Freedom

P.S. California’s new laws jeopardize free speech and lay the groundwork for increasing attacks on your free speech rights. Your gift now helps defend against the growing threats to your God-given freedoms.

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