Elon Musk’s X filed a lawsuit against Minnesota, accusing the North Star State’s sweeping law on artificial intelligence “deepfakes” of infringing on free speech rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
Under Minnesota law, public broadcasters are held potentially liable for deepfakes circulating on their platforms within 90 days of elections. Deepfakes are videos, audio recordings, photos, and other content created through AI to impersonate someone realistically without their consent.
On Wednesday, X sued Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison over the law, arguing that its requirements are “so vague and unintelligible that social media platforms cannot understand what the statute permits and what it prohibits, which will lead to blanket censorship, including of fully protected, core political speech.”
“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.
The lawsuit comes after Minnesota passed AI legislation in 2023 that penalizes anyone who widely shares deepfakes within 90 days of an election, even if the content includes a clear disclaimer that it is AI-generated. The law, one of the toughest on AI in the country, carries harsh consequences for offenders, as it penalizes not only the creator but also the broadcaster, or whichever online channels distribute the information, making media companies potentially liable for all AI content on their platforms. A person found guilty of its usage can now face up to five years in prison, or a civil penalty of up to $10,000.
X argued that the law 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.”
Musk’s platform further alleged it already performs “robust” checks to inform users about potentially false information that could be circulated through deepfakes. The platform’s widely used “Community Notes” feature provides context to posts and allows users to disagree with the original post.
Conservatives such as “Mr Reagan,” who runs an X account that often disseminates satirical content made with AI, have argued that the Minnesota policy unlawfully targets the freedom to share parody, infringing on free speech rights. Last fall, Mr Reagan and Minnesota Republican state Rep. Mary Franson filed a lawsuit against the state.
“Mr Reagan earns a livelihood from his content, and Rep. Franson communicates with her constituents and party members on social media,” a press release from their lawyers read. “Both hope to continue posting and sharing videos and political memes online, including those created in part with AI.”
“The law is supposed to promote democratic elections, but it instead undermines the will of the people by disqualifying candidates for protected speech or subjecting them to lawfare by political opponents,” the pair’s lawyer added.
In January, a judge rejected Mr Reagan and Franson’s bid for a preliminary injunction to block the law, which they appealed.
Law professor Alan Rozenshtein told the Minnesota Lawyer that although he believed the law passed muster in general, “there’s still a First Amendment issue here because lies are protected under the First Amendment in many cases.”
“But you clearly here have an intent to limit it to 90 days before an election. That is, I think, a factor that goes to the permissibility of this type of legislation,” he added.
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Minnesota is one of many states that have passed laws overseeing the use of deepfakes in elections.
Last month, South Dakota became one of the latest to do so when Gov. Larry Rhoden (R-SD) signed a bill requiring labels on political deepfakes within 90 days of an election. The law is more relaxed than Minnesota’s, exempting broadcasters, newspapers, websites, and radio stations from liability. Violators face fines, misdemeanor charges, and up to a year in prison.
