Court: Satire is not illegal, even in California
At Premier Christian News, Mitti Hicks reports,
The judge’s ruling follows two separate lawsuits involving the satire website The Babylon Bee, the operators of the video-sharing platform Rumble, which hosts a variety of content, and California attorney and blogger Kelly Chang Rickert.
Lawyers representing both organisations challenged two laws: AB 2839, which targets and punishes speakers for engaging in certain political commentary, including satirical memes and parodies of politicians; and AB 2655, which requires large online platforms to act as the government’s censor and remove certain political commentary from their sites. According to a news release from the Alliance Defending Freedom, the US District Court for the Eastern District of California found both laws to be unconstitutional.
“Court sides with Christian satire site in fight against censorship laws,” September 3, 2025
California has been on this jag for years. See, for example, Richard W. Stevens’s article, “California censorship law loses first round in legal battle” :
Court zeroes in to protect First Amendment rights to vigorous political speech and expression
As reported previously here, California enacted AB 2839 (Cal. Elec. Code § 20012) in 2024 to combat the publication of videos employing AI deepfake technology used to satirize and parody candidates running for public office. AB 2839 applies broadly, however, to sweep in all “election communication,” meaning all speech concerning a “candidate for office” that is distributed through the internet. The law claims to prevent the use of deepfakes and “disinformation” meant to prevent voters from voting or to deceive voters based on fraudulent content.
Here’s a story on the ad that spurred California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, to sign AB 2839:
The Bee offered a stinging response to the government’s loss:
In a statement, The Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon said he was pleased that the court recognised that the First Amendment secures the publication’s right to tell jokes, including “ones the government doesn’t like.”
“Our job is hard enough when our jokes keep coming true, as if they were prophecies,” said Dillon, adding, “It becomes significantly more difficult when self-serving politicians abuse their power to try to control public discourse and clamp down on comedy.” “Against censorship laws”
But the battle is hardly over. In recent years, many governments have begun to see the internet as something that they should try to run … into the ground if possible.
