The creator of a viral video that used AI to create a parody of Vice President Kamala Harris is suing the state of California, alleging that his First and 14th Amendment rights were violated.
The lawsuit comes as Newsom recently signed bills requiring “deepfake” videos to be labeled.
Christopher Kohls, who goes by “Mr. Reagan” on X, claims the new laws require a different font size to label the video as a “deepfake,” therefore affecting the appearance of his content. Prior to the new laws, Kohls labeled his video as a parody.
According to the lawsuit, Kohls has the “absolute Constitutional right to lampoon politicians he believes should not be elected.”
“Plaintiff knows the voiceover of Harris bragging about being a ‘diversity hire’ is false; he created it,” the suit says. “That’s the entire point of parody!”
Governor Gavin Newsom’s spokesperson, Izzy Gardon, said in a statement, “Requiring them to use the word ‘parody’ on the actual video avoids further misleading the public as the video is shared across the platform. It’s unclear why this conservative activist is suing California.”
“This new disclosure law for election misinformation isn’t any more onerous than laws already passed in other states, including Alabama,” Gardon noted.
After the “deepfake” bills were signed, conservative groups created AI videos as parodies of Newsom himself.
The Babylon Bee, headquartered in Florida, created an AI video of Newsom saying, “This is a message for the people of America, given in my authentically recorded non-AI voice.”
“During the COVID pandemic, I locked everyone in their homes and shut down businesses for months. Not the French Laundry, though. That’s my favorite restaurant,” the video adds. “Last year, I cleaned up the dangerous, messy streets of San Francisco. You know, because Chinese Communist President Xi was coming. And I really wanted to impress him. He’s my boss, after all.”
“Anyway, I’m California Governor Gavin Newsom, and I approve this 100% real message, which is a recording of my voice without the assistance of any AI whatsoever,” the parody says. “This isn’t a deepfake. And you can rest assured that it isn’t, because I just signed an unconstitutional law outlawing deepfakes. No one would dare violate it. Thank you, and science bless America.”