A Big Win For Free Speech: Judge Blocks Hawaii Censorship Law

Humorless Democrats in the Trump Derangement Syndrome era can’t take a joke. Literally. Liberals in Blue state Hawaii are so joyless that they’ve criminalized satire, a mainstay of politics for centuries. 

But a federal judge in Honolulu just told the leftist-led Aloha State to lighten up. 

‘Kill the Joke’

In a big win for the First Amendment, Judge Shanlyn A.S. Park on Friday found Hawaii’s looming law censoring online political speech unconstitutional. The case pitted the Babylon Bee — “Fake News You Can Trust” — against Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez and the other speech silencers at the island state’s capitol, and Park’s permanent injunction stops a law that “would kill the joke.” 

As the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) put it, Hawaii government officials aren’t allowed to censor political speech they don’t like. The conservative Christian network of attorneys founded to protect “religious freedom, free speech, parental rights and the sanctity of life” filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Babylon Bee and Hawaii resident Dawn O’Brien. 

In July 2024, Democrat Gov. Josh Green signed the bill that prohibits the distribution of parody deemed to be “materially deceptive media.” What constitutes deceptive? Portraying politicians in a way that could harm “the reputation or electoral prospects of a candidate.” Hawaii Democrats assert such content risks “changing … voting behavior.” 

Proponents insist the law would curb so-called “deepfakes” and the surging use of AI-manipulated content leading up to state elections. 

The law, which was set to go into effect on Monday, requires the popular conservative news satire website to post large Disclaimers on Bee content notifying readers that they are reading satire. The nanny state Disclaimers must meet certain content and formatting specifications enumerated in the law. First-time violators of the political speech codes could be fined up to $1,000 and sentenced to 30 days imprisonment. A second violation pushes the penalty to $2,000 and one year in prison. 

Such restrictions would defeat the purpose of the Babylon Bee’s satirical product, the publication argued. 

“As plaintiffs point out, Act 191’s compelled Disclaimer would impermissibly alter the content, intended effect, and message of their speech,” wrote Park, a Biden appointee in the 38-page opinion. “Put simply, a mandatory Disclaimer for parody or satire would kill the joke,” she said.

Hawaii Democrats apparently don’t get the joke, which is oftentimes on them. 

The bill passed with overwhelming support in a legislature dominated by Democrats. In their response to the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, the state claimed that the Bee’s satirical headlines have “been mistaken as real news articles, been checked by fact-checking sites for factual accuracy, and been denounced and/or censored for spreading misinformation, conspiracy, and purportedly hateful content.” 

“We use comedy to speak about current events in a way others can’t, and Hawaii is robbing us of that voice,” said Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon in a December press release. “The First Amendment protects our right to tell jokes, whether it’s election season or not. We’ll never stop fighting to defend that freedom.”

Friday’s victory follows two big free speech wins in California last August. In The Babylon Bee v. Bonta and Rumble v. Bonta, a federal court declared unconstitutional  two California laws that censor online political speech. Those laws, like Gov. Gavin Newsom’s integrity, are dead. 

‘Free Speech is Cancelled’

ADF also represented Hawaii resident Dawn O’Brien in the lawsuit. O’Brien, too, is a political content creator. While her audience is considerably smaller than the Bee’s (a little more than 10,000 followers on Facebook and Instagram compared to 20 million monthly viewers for the Bee), O’Brien was a target of the Hawaii of the censorship machine. Her crime? She has “previously criticized Governor Josh Green’s … policies on her social media accounts,” according to the state. The satirist “expects Governor Green to run for reelection in 2026 and desires to make posts, including digitally altered posts, from February 2026 through election day, opposing his candidacy.” 

O’Brien, Democrats fear, plans to make A1-generated images such as Green holding a sign that declares “Free speech is cancelled,” and “satire and parody require labels.” In doing so, O’Brien “intends or acts with reckless disregard for the risk that these posts will persuade Hawaii residents not to vote for [Governor] Green.” 

Yes, that’s the idea. And that’s been part of parody and satire in politics for centuries. Tell us again which party is a “threat to democracy.” 

“Both ‘Hawai’i’ and ‘Aloha’ are rooted in ‘-ha,’ the Hawaiian word for ‘breath of life.’ It’s the very essence of our identity: to breathe and speak freely, to express our hearts with one another. No ‘ha’ means no aloha and no Hawai’i,” O’Brien said in December. “Our governor and lawmakers are trying once again to steal inalienable rights from our Hawai’i ‘ohana’—our family and community. That is not Aloha nor is it Hawai’i.”

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 26 states as of December had enacted laws regulating political “deepfakes” or “deceptive media.” NCSL notes that the laws generally either bar such content or require disclosures. Minnesota and Texas, for instance, restrict publication of such products a certain number of days before an election. 

The constitutionality of the laws, as shown in the more extreme cases in California and Hawaii, can push regulation of political speech to the breaking point.

“Political speech, of course, is at the core of what the First Amendment is designed to protect,” Park, the Hawaii federal judge, wrote in her ruling. “Rather than require actual harm, [S2687] imposes a risk assessment based solely on the value judgments and biases of the enforcement agency — which could conceivably lead to discretionary and targeted enforcement that discriminates based on viewpoint.”

Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.