Artificial Intelligence

Montana's Anti-Deepfakes Law Just Hit a First Amendment Roadblock

A federal judge found that the state's restrictions on AI-generated political speech likely violate the First Amendment.

Reem Ibrahim | 9.18.2026 5:36 PM

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(Commisioner of Political Practice/montana.gov)

States' efforts to regulate election deepfakes keep colliding with the First Amendment.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Watters issued a preliminary injunction preventing Montana from enforcing a 2025 law that restricts AI-generated political advertisements. The law had been challenged by Accountability in State Government, a group run the former state lawmaker Dan Bartel; the organization had sent mailouts containing doctored images of political figures holding pride flags and wearing pronoun badges. 

Under Montana law, it is illegal to sponsor or distribute an election communication within 60 days of voting if you "knew or should have known [it] is a deepfake"—though "satire or parody" is exempt. And so the targets of Bartel's mailouts filed complaints. State Rep. Jennifer Carlson (R–Manhattan),........

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