Babylon Bee sues New Mexico over law requiring AI warning labels on political satire

The Babylon Bee filed a federal lawsuit Aug. 11 challenging a New Mexico law that requires warning labels on certain artificial intelligence (AI)-generated political satire, arguing that the mandate violates its First Amendment rights and “spoils the joke.”

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, asks the court to declare portions of H.B. 182 unconstitutional and block members of the New Mexico State Ethics Commission from enforcing them. The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and And Justice Law are representing the satirical news site in the case.

The measure — which Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law in March 2024 — requires disclaimers on advertisements containing “materially deceptive media,” defined as AI-generated or manipulated images, videos, or audio that depict an identifiable person saying or doing something the person did not say or do and that were distributed without the person’s consent.

Under the law, covered material must carry a clear disclaimer stating that the content “has been manipulated or generated by artificial intelligence.” Violations can result in civil penalties of up to $1,000 each, not to exceed $20,000 in total penalties.

The Bee argued in its complaint that forcing satire to explain itself changes the message and weakens its comedic effect. 

“This disclaimer alters the content of the satire and parody The Bee wants to express by alerting the viewer to the satirical or parodical nature of the communication and thereby depriving the expression of its rhetorical force,” the complaint states, according to FOX News. “Put simply, HB 182 spoils the joke as it begins, each and every time.”

Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon told FOX that the site has not faced penalties under the law, but it is suing preemptively to “settle the matter before it escalates to” the point of penalty.

A State Ethics Commission spokesperson called the New Mexico suit “baseless” in a statement cited by FOX.

“The Commission has never taken action to enforce the AI-disclaimer requirements in Section 1-19-26.4 of the Campaign Reporting Act, much less for political parody and satire,” the spokesperson said, according to the outlet. “While the Babylon Bee has a First Amendment right to mock New Mexico, it does not have a right to extract attorneys’ fees from the State.”

In an Aug. 11 statement, ADF Legal Counsel Logan Spena accused New Mexico of “censoring political speech it dislikes.”

“The Babylon Bee is seeking to uphold its fundamental right to speak freely and ensure that our political system remains one of self-government,” Spena said. “We’re proud to have successfully represented the Bee in two other cases challenging state censorship, and we’ll strive for a similar outcome in New Mexico.”

ADF said its attorneys previously won lawsuits on behalf of the Bee against similar laws in California and Hawaii.

“We’re used to getting pulled over by the joke police, but comedy isn’t a crime,” Dillon said in the ADF statement. “The First Amendment protects our right to create AI satire poking fun at political candidates. We’ll never stop fighting to defend that freedom.”