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Babylon Bee fights California's censorship laws to defend free speech
The Babylon Bee, a Christian satire site, is making headlines – not for its usual humorous political memes – but for challenging a new California law aimed at censoring political satire and online content.
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is filing a lawsuit on behalf of the Babylon Bee and a California based attorney to challenge these laws, signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on 17 September 2024.
The laws censor speech during election periods, including banning pictures and videos that could harm a candidate's chances. They target those who share "misleading" information about candidates, elected officials, or election-related topics. The laws require people to add disclaimers when sharing satire, which the lawsuit will argue undermines the nature of satire itself. The laws also target large online platforms, making them label or remove posts considered "misleading." A violation of these laws can result in significant legal fees, costs, and penalties.
The ADF lawsuit argues these laws are a direct threat to free speech and represent ‘blatant censorship’.
As the ADF says, “it’s the stuff we expect of oppressive regimes in China and other authoritative governments”.
Jonathan Scruggs, ADF Vice President of Litigation Strategy and Centre for Conscience Initiatives, said:
“California’s war against political memes is censorship, plain and simple. We shouldn’t trust the government to decide what is true in our online political debates,”
Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon said:
“Our job is hard enough when our jokes keep coming true, as if they were prophecies. But it becomes significantly more difficult when self-serving politicians abuse their power to try and control public discourse and clamp down on comedy. Unfortunately for them, the First Amendment secures our right to tell jokes they don't like.”
ADF has noted that the reach of the laws is very broad, explaining that “reposting an article from satire sites like the Babylon Bee could land you in a legal battle, if the government officials don’t like the joke”.
That’s exactly what happened to HRLA client Jereth Kok, who shared Babylon Bee articles, along with other memes and online commentary to his personal social media account. After an anonymous complaint about his posts, the Medical Board investigated his account and suspended his medical licence.
As commentator Matthew Littlefield has said:
“[Jereth’s] indiscretion was to share his informed – both medically and scripturally mind you – opinion on some of the more radical medical situations in our society on his private social media page where he speaks as a citizen of Australia. These are not things which impinge on his ability to do his job, at all. Yet, the Medical Board pursued selective complaints about Jereth’s social media posts discussing his personal beliefs on religious and political matters like abortion, marriage, Covid lockdowns and transgender ideology.”
Jereth has been fighting back, and not just for himself, but "for the right for other health professionals to express their deeply held religious beliefs publicly, and also their political views, something all Australians should have protections to do”.
With HRLA’s assistance, he is challenging the decision of the Medical Board. His matter was heard in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal over a five-day period in July 2024. Closing arguments from parties are due on 14 October this year.
It’s becoming increasingly evident that free speech is under growing threat around the world, with governments and bureaucrats seeking greater control over speech and online content they disagree with. The Babylon Bee’s challenge to California’s restrictive laws is an important development in pushing back against such extreme laws, as is the action taken by Jereth Kok in fighting back. Without such opposition, the alarming erosion of free speech that we are currently witnessing will only continue and become further entrenched.
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