The satirical news website, The Babylon Bee, is suing the state of Hawaii over a latest law that might be used to censor online content, including satire and parody.
Under law S2687, which was passed last July, portraying a politician in a way that damages their “repute or electoral prospects” is penalised. “Materially deceptive media” can be banned under the law.
The law does allow online satire, but requires large disclaimers telling the reader that it’s satire. The Babylon Bee has said it isn’t willing to position such a disclaimer on its site, although given it operates under the tagline, “Fake News You Can Trust”, it might be argued they already do.
The site is well often known as a Christian satire website, running such stories as “USS Harvey Milk To Be Renamed ‘USS No Homo’” and “Scholars Now Believe Prophet Elijah Was Caught Up To Heaven In a Fiery 1977 Pontiac Trans Am”.
The Bee is being joined in its lawsuit by Dawn O’Brien, a resident of Hawaii, who has needed to stop posting her satirical content for fear of the penalties imposed by the law. The first violation of the law alone can carry a sentence of a month in prison and a $1,000 high quality. A second violation inside five years can result in a 12 months in prison and a high quality of $2,000.
The Bee and Ms O’Brien are being represented by attorneys from the Alliance Defending Freedom International (ADF).
Seth Dillon, CEO of the Babylon Bee, said, “We’re used to getting pulled over by the joke police, but comedy isn’t against the law. The First Amendment protects our right to inform jokes, whether it’s election season or not. We’ll never stop fighting to defend that freedom.”
Mathew Hoffman, who’s ADF’s legal counsel, described the Hawaiian law as straightforward censorship.
“Satire has served as a very important vehicle to deliver truth with a smile for hundreds of years, and this type of speech receives the utmost protection under the Constitution,” he said.
“The First Amendment doesn’t allow Hawaii to decide on what political speech is suitable, and we’re urging the court to cancel this unnecessary censorship.”
