The Babylon Bee v. Bonta (Appeal)
Case Details
- Court:
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- Docket:
- 25-6138
- Filed:
- September 30, 2025
- Status:
- Appeal pending in Ninth Circuit (consolidated cases)
- Plaintiff:
- The Babylon Bee, LLC; Kelly Chang Rickert; Christopher Kohls, Rumble Inc., Rumble Canada Inc., and X Corp.
- Defendant:
- Rob Bonta (California Attorney General) and Shirley N. Weber (California Secretary of State)
- Law Challenged:
- California AB 2655 (Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act)
- Legal Theories:
-
- Preempted by 47 U.S.C. § 230
Lower Court Decision
- Court:
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
- Docket:
- 2:24-cv-02787-JAM-CKD
- Judge:
- John A. Mendez
- Decision:
- The parties stipulated that AB 2655 was preempted by 47 U.S.C. § 230. In addition, summary judgment was granted for plaintiffs on AB 2839, which was permanently enjoined as unconstitutional.
- Decision Date:
- August 20, 2025
Summary
California’s appeal of the district court’s order on stipulation that AB 2655 is preempted by 47 U.S.C. § 230.
This consolidated appeal combines both Kohls v. Bonta, The Babylon Bee v. Bonta, Rumble Inc. v. Bonta, and X Corp. v. Bonta, which were consolidated at the district court level and challenge the same California laws regulating AI-generated political content.
Documents
- 📄 Ninth Circuit Docket
- 📄 Defendant's Opening Brief on the Merits (Jan 12, 2026)
Timeline
Entry of judgment on AB 2655
District court enters judgement that AB 2655 violates and is preempted by 47 U.S.C. § 230(c)(1),
District court decision on AB 2839
District court granted summary judgment for plaintiffs permanently enjoining AB 2839.
Notice of Appeal Filed
California Attorney General filed notice of appeal to Ninth Circuit.
Defendant's opening brief filed
California appealed the decision that AB 2655 was preempted by 47 U.S.C. § 230 but did not appeal the holding that AB 2839 was unconstitutional.