Posted on 03/31/2017 1:32:50 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
A California state lawmaker pulled his proposed legislation that would have made it illegal to publish “false or deceptive statements” on elections after critics said it would be “disastrous for free speech.”
The first hearing for Assembly Bill 1104, “The California Political Cyberfraud Abatement Act,” was planned for Tuesday, but was canceled at the 11th hour at the request of the author, California Assemblyman Ed Chau (D-Monterey Park).
Under the proposed legislation, it would be unlawful to knowingly and willingly publish or circulate on the Internet a “false or deceptive statement designed to influence the vote” on either a ballot measure or political candidate. Read more © Joshua Roberts ‘Fake news’ focus of Senate probe into ‘Russian meddling’ in 2016 US election
In his analysis of the bill, Chau says the proposal would expand The Golden State’s political cyberfraud law to “provide protections to candidate campaigns in addition to the current law protections for ballot measures.”
“This bill is an important step forward in the fight against 'fake news' and deceptive campaign tactics,” Chau, who heads the California Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, said.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a digital-rights advocacy group, wrote a critical review of the bill, saying it was “so obviously unconstitutional, we had to double check that it was real.”
The EFF argued the bill would violate free speech rights, making it illegal to “be wrong on the internet.” Anyone who made the “slightest hint of hyperbole, exaggeration, poetic license, or common error” on a candidate or ballot measure would be violating the law, according to the civil liberties advocate.
They also note that the bill does not leave room for satire or parody, meaning The Onion would be considered illegal under the bill. Even quoting or retweeting an incorrect statement would be illegal.
“At a time when political leaders are promoting ‘alternative facts’ and branding unflattering reporting as ‘fake news,’ we don’t think it’s a good idea to give the government more power to punish speech,” said Dave Maas, an investigative researcher for the EFF.
Think of the revenue generated with 27 minutes of ads and 3 minutes of real news?
Yes, LIBS are lunatics.
Who gets to determine what “fake news” is? For the lefties that would be everything on Fox News and places like Rush Limbaugh.
Not so fast. We could use this law to jail every democRAT running for office.
Geee. where have we seen censorship before?? hmmmm....
I’d guess us to be no more than about 5 years away from reeducation gulags here in CA.
Is it fake news when Moonbeam claims to be 69 years old?
And California is just a few more laws away from paradise!
/s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml54UuAoLSo
In 5 years, the Green Police won’t be just a Super Bowl commercial
Monterey Park once had a billboard painted on a wall next to a gas station that read “Would the last American to leave please bring the flag.” (circa 1980)
Monterey Park was advertised in Hong Kong as the “Chinese Beverly Hills.” It is over-run with Chinese immigrants. Both Cantonese and Mandarin are spoken there. English is optional!
The only positive is that the best Chinese restaurants in the world are located there.
High immigrant populations, legal and otherwise, is one of several reasons California is a Democrat paradise AKA a liberal hellhole.
Behold the irony that is politicians, unarguably the most duplicitous phonies on the planet, legislating themselves the power to decide what is fake news and what isn’t...
Anyday now I expect the California Supreme Court to nullify the California legislature and rule by decree.
And the liberals will rejoice.
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