(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) In response to Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., signing a series of anti-free speech, also known as “deep fake” laws, that target outlets that publish satire and parody, Babylon Bee, a well-known conservative satirical website, filed a lawsuit against the state on Sept. 30, 2024.
According to the complaint exclusively shared with the Daily Wire, Babylon Bee stated that Newsom wrote on Twitter about how the state’s law should suppress any criticism or mocking of the current Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris.
“Manipulating a voice in an ‘ad’ like this one should be illegal. I’ll be signing a bill in a matter of weeks to make sure it is,” Newsom wrote on July 28, 2024.
Manipulating a voice in an “ad” like this one should be illegal.
I’ll be signing a bill in a matter of weeks to make sure it is. pic.twitter.com/NuqOETkwTI
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 29, 2024
“The legislature heard the call and passed two laws that forbid political expression under the label of ‘materially deceptive content,’” Babylon Bee wrote in the lawsuit.
The conservative satirists then explained how the anti-free speech bill would force social media platforms that are already controlled by conservative-hating Big Tech companies to become “state snitches” and inform the totalitarian state of California about who should be punished for exercising one’s First Amendment rights.
The company’s CEO, Seth Dillon, stated that it is possible to avoid being persecuted by leftists if a company or a person behind the account would put a disclaimer that states the post is a joke. However, Dillon told the Wire that it “completely stifles and kills the joke.”
“If we’re unable to publish satire without putting disclaimers all over it, and we’re going to face potential penalties if we don’t do that, then that’s a very serious issue too,” he told the news source.
It wasn’t the first time when the leftist government tried to silence Babylon Bee. Facebook censored and demonetized the conservative jokester both in 2020 and 2021. The New York Times also attacked Babylon Bee, later admitting they were lying. Right before Elon Musk purchased Twitter and made it a free-speech social media platform, in March 2022, the Big Tech platform also censored Babylon Bee.
However, Babylon Bee engaged in the censorship of free speech last year when the organization fired Donald Trump-supporting conservative activist and columnist Gavin Wax.
After receiving backlash from Trump supporters, Dillon said the reason why Babylon Bee fired Wax was not because he supports Trump but because he used an expletive as a representative of an allegedly conservative Christian company.
However, some people on Twitter wrote that it was just an excuse for a Ron DeSantis-supporting Babylon Bee to get rid of a Trump supporter, using other organization’s employees who previously used expletives and were never fired for it as evidence of that.
THREAD🧵 on @GavinWax firing and why @TheBabylonBee outrage is selective.
Gavin Wax was abruptly fired over using an explicative against a DeSantis ally. If the rules are that people who curse get fired, Babylon will have to let some people go 🚨
RT to stand with @GavinWax pic.twitter.com/rQyfkrTuwD
— Chief Trumpster (@ChiefTrumpster) May 27, 2023
