Elon Musk’s social platform X filed a lawsuit Wednesday over a Minnesota law prohibiting the sharing of deepfakes to influence an election, alleging it violates free speech.
In the complaint, filed in federal court in Minnesota, X argues the law will “lead to blanket censorship, including of fully protected, core political speech.”
The law, passed in 2023, defines a deepfake as videos, audio recordings or photos created with artificial intelligence (AI) tools to “realistically impersonate” a person without their permission or knowledge.
Anyone who widely shares the deepfake within 90 days of an election could face criminal action.
By threatening criminal action against social media platforms, X argues platforms are more likely to err on the side of removing content, even when it is a “close call” on whether it is a deepfake.
“Under this enforcement system, platforms that keep up content presenting a close call under the statute run the risk of criminal penalties, but there is no penalty for erring on the side of too much censorship,” the complaint stated.
“This system will inevitably result in the censorship of wide swaths of valuable political speech and commentary and will limit the type of ‘uninhibited, robust, and wide-open’ ‘debate on public
issues’ that core First Amendment protections are designed to ensure,” it continued.
The suit urges a federal judge to rule the law is a violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, along with the Minnesota Constitution, and seeks a permanent injunction to block the enforcement of the law.
The Hill reached out to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D), the listed defendant, for comment.
Minnesota is one of more than two dozen states in the U.S. to pass legislation related to the regulation of deepfakes in elections, according to a tracker from Public Citizen, a progressive consumer rights watchdog nonprofit.
Lawmakers have increasingly raised concerns deepfake technology risks spreading disinformation and manipulating voters during an election.
Musk, who purchased X, then known as Twitter, in 2021, has touted himself as a champion of free speech. Shortly after the purchase, he pulled back a number of content moderation policies on X, defending the move as a protection of free speech.
