The creator of a parody video criticizing Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is suing California over new legislation that he says would restrict his content.
Christopher Kohls, who goes by “Mr Reagan” on Youtube, alleged that a pair of laws signed this week infringe his First Amendment rights. He said he is bringing the suit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of California to “defend all American’s rights to satirize politicians.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed a series of bills aimed at restricting the distribution of AI-generated materially misleading content. The two laws challenged by Kohls, AB 2655 and AB 2839, require social media companies to take down materially deceptive content and ban the distribution of AI-generated election content with malicious intent.
Kohls, who has about 367,000 followers on Youtube and 101,000 followers on X, posted a video in July featuring “AI-generated cuts of a voice sounding like Vice President Harris,” according to the complaint. The video, edited similarly to a campaign ad, was reposted by X owner Elon Musk, generating more than 100 million views.
Newsom specifically called out the video—in which the AI narrator describes Harris as “the ultimate diversity hire”—saying that manipulating a voice with AI like the video did should be illegal.
Kohls’ complaint frames the parody ad as part of an “American pastime” of political humor….