X Corp Challenges Minnesota's Deepfake Election Law: A Fight for Free Speech?

X Corp, owned by Elon Musk, is challenging a Minnesota law banning deepfakes for election influence, arguing it breaches First Amendment rights. The law, pre-empted by a 1996 federal statute, imposes penalties for deepfake dissemination. Minnesota Attorney General vows a robust response to uphold the law's constitutionality.

X Corp, the social media platform owned by business magnate Elon Musk, has filed a federal lawsuit challenging Minnesota's ban on using deepfake technology to influence elections, arguing that the legislation infringes on First Amendment protections.

The disputed 2023 state law bans dissemination of deepfake videos, images, or audio if the intent is to injure a candidate or influence election outcomes. Despite the law's good intentions, X Corp contends it unjustly penalizes harmless election-related content, including satire, and holds social media companies criminally liable for not censoring such content.

Minnesota's Democratic lawmakers, however, maintain the law protects democratic processes and argue it's a valid response to the deepfake threat. Despite the lawsuit, the state Attorney General's office, defending the statute, emphasizes that deepfakes pose a significant challenge to fair elections.

(With inputs from agencies.)