The state of New Mexico passed a law in 2024 that makes it a crime — punishable by fines up to $20,000 — to post AI-generated satirical content about political candidates within 90 days of an election. On August 11, the Babylon Bee sued.
A state government literally tried to regulate comedy. The Bee's lawyers are not amused. Well, actually, they probably are.
The lawsuit targets Section 1-19-26.4 of New Mexico's Campaign Reporting Act, which requires disclaimers on AI-generated political content and effectively criminalizes satire that uses any AI tools in its creation. The Bee, represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, argues the law is an unconstitutional restriction on political speech — the exact category of expression the First Amendment was written to protect.
Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon laid it out plainly: "We're used to getting pulled over by the joke police, but comedy isn't a crime. The First Amendment protects our right to create AI satire poking fun at political candidates. We'll never stop fighting to defend that freedom."
Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Logan Spena explained the broader problem with laws like New Mexico's: "When these laws are framed as broadly as they are, it really is state censorship of political speech, which is the highest rung of speech our Constitution protects."
Spena also pointed to the growing pattern of states panicking over AI-generated content: "As it gets more realistic, I think states are getting a little more concerned, but the problem is they're overreacting in ways that unconstitutionally restricts protected speech."
Here's the part that makes New Mexico's position even harder to defend. The New Mexico Ethics Commission itself issued a statement saying: "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." So the state passed a law it apparently never intended to enforce. Which raises the obvious question: if the law isn't meant to be used, why does it exist?
The answer is the same one it always is with speech restrictions. The law doesn't have to be enforced to work. It just has to exist. A $20,000 fine hanging over every satirical post about a politician within 90 days of an election is enough to make most people shut up. That's not a side effect. That's the design.
Babylon Bee Editor-in-Chief Kyle Mann runs a publication that has turned political satire into an art form — one that regularly lands closer to the truth than most "serious" journalism. The idea that a state legislature looked at satirical headlines and decided the appropriate response was a five-figure fine tells you everything about which side of this debate is afraid of humor.