(SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.) –In the growing world of artificial intelligence and online editing tools, it is more imperative than ever that the First Amendment right to free speech be given the highest level of protection. This is why the Liberty Justice Center has filed a number of amicus briefs on this issue including most recently The Babylon Bee v. Bonta, filed March 18, 2026, with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In their brief, the Liberty Justice Center urges the court to reject California’s attempt to mandate censorship of online political content through AB 2655, a law that requires large social media platforms to police and label certain digitally created or modified political speech.
The California law targets content it defines as “materially deceptive,” including certain AI-generated or edited media that could appear authentic to a reasonable person. The Liberty Justice Center argues that the statute imposes unconstitutional content-based restrictions on speech and fails to satisfy strict scrutiny under the First Amendment.
The Liberty Justice Center highlights the continued effectiveness of counterspeech in the digital age. Tools such as community notes, public responses, and open debate allow users to challenge and contextualize misleading content without suppressing protected expression. Major platforms have increasingly adopted these user-driven systems in place of centralized factchecking and removal policies, reinforcing the principle that more speech—not censorship—is the constitutional answer.
“In a free society, the first-order remedy for false or misleading speech should always be more speech. We hope the Ninth Circuit agrees and strictly scrutinizes California’s censorship regime,” said Reilly Stephens, Senior Counsel and Director of Amicus Practice at the Liberty Justice Center.
The Liberty Justice Center is urging the Ninth Circuit to reaffirm that even in a rapidly evolving technological landscape, the First Amendment protects the marketplace of ideas. Laws that compel platforms to silence or label speech cannot stand when open debate and public scrutiny remain viable and effective alternatives.
Committed to combatting censorship of any kind, the Liberty Justice Center also recently filed an amicus brief in Kohls v. Ellison, defending against a similar law in Minnesota, and in Rusfeldt v. City of New York, protecting against “heckler’s veto.” Additional work and our cases focused on defending free speech can be found here.
The Liberty Justice Center’s amicus brief in The Babylon Bee v. Bonta can be found here.