The Babylon Bee, a Christian satire news site, is suing New Mexico officials over a law that requires disclaimers on certain AI-generated political content, including parody and satire. The law, which was passed in 2024, mandates that relevant images, video, or audio manipulated or created through artificial intelligence must display a prominent AI disclaimer identifying the content as created or manipulated by artificial intelligence.
Free Speech Concerns
The Babylon Bee argues that the law violates fundamental free speech rights and due process. The site’s CEO, Seth Dillon, told Fox News Digital that the law’s disclosure requirement imposes a ‘deeper problem’ of compelled speech. ‘New Mexico is stuffing words into our mouths, forcing us to say things we wouldn’t say otherwise,’ he explained.
The lawsuit, which was filed with the help of the Alliance Defending Freedom, argues that the law chills their speech and destroys the intent of comedy. The complaint states that the 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 website says it is not willing to publish content with the mandated label because it would alter its message.
Constitutional Questions
The lawsuit also raises constitutional questions about the law’s requirement for disclaimers on satire and parody. The Alliance Defending Freedom argues that the law discriminates based on content, giving a blanket exemption for content appearing in news stories or editorials while restricting entertainment, satire, parody, cartoons, and memes.
The complaint names the seven members of the New Mexico Ethics Commission, which enforces the challenged provisions, as defendants, and calls on the court to issue injunctions preventing enforcement. The filing also claims that individual violations of the law can draw fines up to $1,000 and those can total up to $20,000 with additional violations.
Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
