Gavin Newsom is stepping up and setting an example for the rest of the country’s government officials. He’s enacting a law that will [insert sarcasm] curb one of the leading issues keeping Americans awake at night.

No, he’s not working to block the invasion of illegal immigrants into California, to impose legal consequences on people who steal from gas stations and convenience stores, or to imprison those who are openly dealing drugs on almost every street corner in most of the major cities throughout the state.

Instead, Newsom has decided to crack down on the parody crisis in America. That’s right. He aims to protect everyday people from the dangers of misinterpreting the messages shared through altered campaign ads, which use a combination of truth and humor to highlight the behavior and statements of the candidates vying for the presidency.

The move came after Newsom criticized Elon Musk in a post for retweeting a fake campaign ad with an AI-generated voice of Kamala Harris. That fake voice highlighted her failings as vice president and reminded people that she was chosen for the role primarily because she’s a non-white woman. Newsom claimed that “manipulating a voice in an ‘ad’ like this one should be illegal,” following up with the promise, “I’ll be signing a bill in a matter of weeks to make sure it is.”

As with every move the Democrat Party makes to infringe on our rights, Newsom used the stated goal of protecting us peasants from “disinformation” as justification for passing the bill. “Safeguarding the integrity of elections is essential to democracy,” said Newsom, “and it’s critical that we ensure AI is not deployed to undermine the public’s trust through disinformation — especially in today’s fraught political climate.”

The idea of wanting to preserve the people’s trust in their politicians is a nice sentiment. But we also know that this is not the true intention of legislators who pass these kinds of laws. This was “a classic authoritarian move,” said California Republican Congressman Kevin Kiley, who spoke on the matter. “A person in power sees speech he doesn’t like; sees speech that threatens his power, and so he uses that power, uses whatever tools he has at his disposal, to silence those who would dare speak against him.”

Bingo.

In the same speech, Kiley discussed the importance of regulating AI when it comes to explicit material and victimizing innocent people — certainly grounds for a legitimate conversation. But Kiley noted that this was really about silencing speech that threatens those in power — as they know we won’t do that if we see them for the idiots they are.

Parody has an interesting way of circulating through our online conversations. It’s a unique tool that can be used to highlight important aspects of public concerns or current events. It’s effective because it captures our attention in a way that a serious debate or news segment will not.

We are generally more likely to share something humorous, even with those with whom we disagree, as it can break down the barriers and reduce anxiety or hostility. The content can be funny to anyone, and the absurdity of the message is rooted in at least some measure of truth.

While Newsom and other pro-censorship Democrats claim to want to curb the spread of “misinformation,” they are threatened by the truth at the core of this content. They know people will listen to it, share it, and might hear something that the state-controlled media has intentionally failed to mention.

Democrats love to censor inconvenient speech. Governor Tim Walz, for example, has said, “There is no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech, and especially around our Democracy.” Kamala Harris has also pledged to hold social media companies accountable for not “policing” the content they allow people to share on their platforms.

In response to the bill passed in California, Elon Musk trolled Newsom by retweeting the post that started the firestorm in the first place, suggesting to his 199 million X followers: “Would be a shame if it went viral.”

The kings of parody at The Babylon Bee were true to form as well, creating their own “official, 100% real Gavin Newsom election ad,” making the governor the target of the very thing he believes he has the right to outlaw.

BREAKING: The Babylon Bee has obtained this exclusive, official, 100% real Gavin Newsom election ad. https://t.co/nicrnKF5Ji pic.twitter.com/iksPVxltzI

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) September 18, 2024

The ad highlights the utter downfall of a once-magnificent state, in large part due to his poor job performance as governor, and it uses an AI-generated version of his voice to drive the point home. Says “Newsom,” “My policies were so effective that almost one million people are now fleeing the state every year — we even ran out of U-Hauls.”

Aside from the absurdity of any government official believing it’s his job to decide what information the rest of the public can and cannot handle, Newsom’s swift action demonstrates that our elected representatives can resolve a public concern when they want to, and they can do it quickly.

The attack on parody is a parody itself, and this power move by a failed Democrat governor has spectacularly blown up in his face. Let’s hope the country takes note, and maybe we can laugh our way to a win for America on November 5.