Overview
- Judge John Mendez invalidated Assembly Bill 2655, concluding it conflicts with Section 230 platform immunity under the Communications Decency Act.
- The ruling rested solely on federal immunity protections, leaving the plaintiffs’ First Amendment free speech arguments unaddressed.
- Mendez signaled plans to strike down AB 2839, California’s companion labeling requirement for digitally altered campaign content.
- The case originated with Christopher Kohls’ lawsuit over an AI-generated Kamala Harris parody and later drew in Elon Musk’s X platform, the Babylon Bee and Rumble.
- Signed in September 2024 after a doctored Harris video went viral, AB 2655 was among the nation’s strictest election deepfake laws.