Elon Musk's X sues Minnesota AG, arguing state's "deepfake" law violates free speech
X, the Elon Musk-owned social media site formerly known as Twitter, is suing Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison over a state law regulating the use of "deepfakes" to influence elections.
In a suit filed Wednesday, X argues the law violates its free speech rights and "will lead to blanket censorship, including of fully protected, core political speech." The company is asking a federal judge to declare it violates the First Amendment and block it from being enforced.
The 2023 statute in question criminalizes "a person who disseminates a deep fake or enters into a contract or other agreement to disseminate a deep fake" to attempt to influence an election. But it only applies within 90 days of a political party's convention or after early voting is underway.
X alleges its platform and others "could be accused of violating the statute — and potentially be subjected to criminal liability — for merely having these pictures displayed on its platform." The suit argues the law incentivizes social media sites "to remove any content that presents a close call to avoid criminal penalties and costly lawsuits altogether."
"The statute's requirements are so vague and unintelligible that social media platforms cannot understand how to comply with them; thus, those subject to its language will be compelled to over-censor speech to avoid costly litigation potentially leading to criminal liability, over countless judgment calls surrounding whether the statute prohibits particular pieces of content," the suit said.
One of the author's of the law, DFL Sen. Erin Maye Quade, said the legislature narrowly tailored its provisions to withstand strict scrutiny — the judicial review standard the courts use when assessing First Amendment challenges.
"It's not saying that you can never make a deepfake of a candidate. It's not saying you can never make commentary on a candidate," Maye Quade, a Democrat from Apple Valley, said. "It's just saying that within the window of voting, you can't make a deepfake that is so realistic that people don't know that it's not real with the intent to injure the candidate and influence an election. Those are very, very narrow criteria, and I think it's a good law."
She gave this example to draw a distinction: A deepfake of Gov. Tim Walz with his arms spinning off of his body would be permissible because people reasonably know that isn't true. But what wouldn't be allowed under this law is a deepfake of a candidate running in the special election next week for former GOP state Sen. Justin Eichorn's seat in Northern Minnesota that shows the candidate doing or saying something that never happened to hurt their chances of prevailing in that contest.
"That is the kind of behavior we want to stop," she said.
The X filing also alleges Ellison, named as the defendant, "holds specific animus toward [X] and its owner Elon Musk that appears to be motivated by political disagreements."
In a statement to WCCO, the attorney general's office said it "is reviewing the lawsuit and will respond in court."
Last session, Minnesota lawmakers approved expanding the deepfake law to disqualify individuals from running for elected office if convicted of violating it. It was part of a broader package of bills that also included protections for election workers from "doxxing," which is the act of posting someone else's personal information with malicious intent.
Ellison is among several state attorneys general who recently sued the Trump administration over Musk's central role in DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency, which is a nongovernmental task force commissioned by the White House to help slash government spending.
The X suit comes one day after the attorney general's office filed its 15th lawsuit against the Trump administration. On Tuesday, Ellison announced his latest federal suit to "stop President Trump and his administration from bullying vulnerable children" in Minnesota, specifically those who are transgender.
Mr. Trump signed an executive order in February mandating that Title IX be interpreted as prohibiting transgender girls and women from participating in female sports. Ellison says that order violates the Minnesota Human Rights Act.
The suit was filed amid a threat from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who sued Maine's department of education last week for allegedly violating Title IX by "discriminating against women by failing to protect women in women's sports."
Ellison has previously sued the Trump administration for cuts made to federal government agencies and workforce, changes in environmental law, and several other executive orders, including one seeking to ban birthright citizenship.
