Judge rejects Musk-owned SpaceXAI’s bid to block deepfake ban
A federal judge declined to block a Minnesota law banning nudification apps, allowing the case to proceed to a full hearing on whether the law violates free speech protections. The challenge was brought by a company linked to Elon Musk.
Why this matters: Nudification apps exist to create fake explicit images of real people without their consent. The victims are almost always women and girls. Minnesota passed a law to ban them, and now a company is arguing that banning the tools violates free speech. That is the argument the court will now have to take seriously. The outcome matters well beyond Minnesota. If blocking a deepfake ban counts as protected speech, states will have a much harder time protecting people from one of the clearest digital harms around.
Who should care: General readers · AI governance · Policy
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