{"id":311677,"date":"2025-08-07T15:13:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T19:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?prc_email_campaign=judge-strikes-down-california-law-restricting-ai-deepfake-content-during-elections"},"modified":"2026-06-08T12:20:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T16:20:27","slug":"judge-strikes-down-california-law-restricting-ai-deepfake-content-during-elections","status":"publish","type":"prc_email_campaign","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/newsletter\/the-briefing\/judge-strikes-down-california-law-restricting-ai-deepfake-content-during-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge strikes down California law restricting AI deepfake content during elections"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u2600\ufe0f Happy Thursday!<\/strong>\u00a0<em>The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information<\/em>.<em> <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/sign-up-for-the-briefing\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/sign-up-for-the-briefing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Sign up here!<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>In today<em>\u2019<\/em>s email:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li><strong>Featured story:<\/strong> Judge strikes down California law restricting AI deepfake content during elections<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>In other news:<\/strong> CPB to shut down<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Looking ahead:<\/strong> New York Post announces plans to launch California version<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Chart of the week:<\/strong> Most Americans are concerned about people getting inaccurate info from AI<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udd25\u00a0<strong>Featured story<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A federal judge this week <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2025\/08\/05\/elon-musk-x-court-win-california-deepfake-law-00494936\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">struck down a California law<\/a> that restricted <strong>AI-generated video content, <\/strong>also known as deepfakes, related to elections. <strong>Elon Musk <\/strong>and <strong>X <\/strong>were part of the challenge to the law, which required social media companies to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3492053\/court-musk-x-california-law-election-related-ai-deepfakes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">remove this type of content within 72 hours<\/a> of it being reported. But federal judge John Mendez ruled that this violates Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act \u2013 a key provision that protects online platforms from liability for what users post on their sites.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About half of Americans (51%) say the<strong> U.S. government<\/strong> should take steps to <strong>restrict false information online,<\/strong> even if it limits freedom of information, while a larger share (60%) say <strong>tech companies <\/strong>should take such steps, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2025\/04\/14\/support-dips-for-us-government-tech-companies-restricting-false-or-violent-online-content\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">March 2025 survey<\/a>. But Americans have become slightly less likely since 2023 to favor both kinds of restrictions on false information online.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udccc\u00a0<strong>In other news<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li><strong>Corporation for Public Broadcasting<\/strong> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/08\/01\/business\/media\/corporation-for-public-broadcasting-shut-down.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shut down<\/a> after Congress defunds it\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Voice of America director fired<\/strong> after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2025\/08\/04\/voa-abramowitz-kari-lake\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">turning down reassignment<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Rupert Murdoch\u2019s <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/media\/5436298-murdoch-trump-legal-battle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">deposition delayed<\/a> in<strong> Trump<\/strong> lawsuit against<strong> WSJ<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n<li>What<strong> Trump\u2019s firing of BLS commissioner<\/strong> means for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/08\/04\/trump-fires-bls-head\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">data integrity<\/a>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n<li>Journalist in country of <strong>Georgia <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-press-freedom-trial-journalist-mzia-amaghlobeli-288d950aea26bb91da030f3df9bdf3a9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">imprisoned for two years<\/a> for slapping police chief during protest\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Wikipedia<\/strong> editors adopt <a href=\"https:\/\/www.404media.co\/wikipedia-editors-adopt-speedy-deletion-policy-for-ai-slop-articles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">policy to control AI-generated articles<\/a> on the website\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n<li>A look at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2025\/08\/news-influencers-tiktok-gen-z\/683731\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">type of news content<\/a> found on <strong>TikTok<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udcc5\u00a0<strong>Looking ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong>New York Post<\/strong> recently announced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/08\/04\/new-york-post-california-los-angeles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">plans to launch a new daily newspaper<\/a> based in Los Angeles, which will be called the <strong>California Post<\/strong> and debut in early 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A large majority of Americans (78%) say they have heard of the New York Post, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/feature\/news-media-tracker\/new_york_post\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Center survey from March<\/a>, and 9% regularly get news there \u2013 including similar shares of Republicans (10%) and Democrats (8%). But on the whole, U.S. adults are more likely to say they <em>distrust <\/em>the New York Post as a source of news (26%) than trust it (16%).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udcca\u00a0<strong>Chart of the week<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This week\u2019s chart comes from a <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2025\/04\/28\/americans-largely-foresee-ai-having-negative-effects-on-news-journalists\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Center analysis<\/a> of how Americans view AI\u2019s impact on news and journalists. <strong>About two-thirds of U.S. adults (66%) are extremely or very concerned about people getting inaccurate information from AI.<\/strong> An additional 26% are somewhat concerned, while just 7% are not too or not at all concerned.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e2d9db\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e2d9db;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"532\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/SR_25.04.28_ai-in-news_4.png?resize=480,412 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/SR_25.04.28_ai-in-news_4.png?resize=620,532 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/08\/SR_25.04.28_ai-in-news_4.png\" alt=\"A horizontal stacked bar chart showing that most Americans are concerned about people getting inaccurate info from AI.\" class=\"wp-image-271512 not-transparent\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\ud83d\udc4b That&#8217;s all for this week.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Jacob Liedke, Christopher St. Aubin, Luxuan Wang, Emily Tomasik, Joanne Haner, and Mary Randolph. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by Rebecca Leppert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Do you like this newsletter? Email us at\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:journalism@pewresearch.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">journalism@pewresearch.org<\/a> or fill out this <a href=\"https:\/\/us1.list-manage.com\/survey?u=434f5d1199912232d416897e4&amp;id=449f3c3d35&amp;attribution=false\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/us1.list-manage.com\/survey?u=434f5d1199912232d416897e4&amp;id=449f3c3d35&amp;attribution=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">two-question survey<\/a> to tell us what you think<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2600\ufe0f Happy Thursday!\u00a0The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here! In today\u2019s email: \ud83d\udd25\u00a0Featured story A federal judge this week struck down a California law that restricted AI-generated video content, also known as deepfakes, related to elections. Elon Musk and X were part of the challenge to the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5674,"template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","prc_watchers":[],"footnotes":"","prc_email_subject":"Judge strikes down California law restricting AI deepfake content during elections","prc_email_preview_text":"Plus, Corporation for Public Broadcasting\u202fto\u202fshut down\u202fafter Congress defunds it","prc_email_template_slug":"","prc_email_mailchimp_audience_id":"","prc_email_mailchimp_segment_id":"","prc_email_mailchimp_campaign_id":"","prc_email_mailchimp_campaign_admin_url":"","prc_email_mailchimp_campaign_status":"","prc_email_mailchimp_pending_send_at":"","prc_email_mailchimp_delayed_send_cancelled":""},"categories":[],"bylines":[],"prc_newsletter_list":[3083],"_post_visibility":[2643],"formats":[],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-311677","prc_email_campaign","type-prc_email_campaign","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","_post_visibility-hidden-on-index"],"label":"Newsletter","post_parent":0,"word_count":503,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/newsletter\/the-briefing\/judge-strikes-down-california-law-restricting-ai-deepfake-content-during-elections\/","charts":[],"art_direction":{"A1":{"id":"5674","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":"5674","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":"5674","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":"5674","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":"5674","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png?w=720&h=405&crop=1","width":720,"height":405,"chartArt":false},"social":{"id":"5674","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png?w=1200&h=628&crop=1","width":1200,"height":628,"chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"prc_checklist":{},"watchChildPosts":false,"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Judge strikes down California law restricting AI deepfake content during elections","description":"\u2600\ufe0f Happy Thursday!\u00a0The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. 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