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A U.S. Court of Appeals panel declined Monday to block a Minnesota law prohibiting the use of deepfake technology within 90 days of an election.

Republican state Rep. Mary Franson of Alexandria and a conservative political commentator sued over the law in 2024. They alleged that the 

 limits constitutional rights to freedom of speech.

Deepfakes are computer-generated images or videos that can be made to seem real, either as parody or with a malicious intent. 

As it pertains to political content, the law was designed to prevent content made without the consent of the depicted person and made to harm a candidate or influence an election.

In July 2024, Christopher Kohls shared a deepfake video depicting then Vice President Kamala Harris making statements that she never did. It included a “parody” label, according to court documents.

By the time Franson and X platform owner Elon Musk shared it to their followers, the disclaimers about it being an artificially generated parody. 

Kohls and Franson sued in September 2024, saying their rights would be violated if the Minnesota officials sought to enforce the law.

The following month, U.S. District Court Judge Laura Provinzino denied Franson a preliminary injunction and said Kohls lacked standing to sue.

, a three-judge 8th Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld both rulings. In their opinion, they noted of Franson that “she voted for the 2023 law as a member of the Legislature and possessed the complete factual predicate of her suit at that time.”

The judges also said Franson had previously disseminated content that could have run afoul of the law had it been in effect earlier.

The panel wrote that a preliminary injunction was properly denied because Franson waited 16 months to seek relief.

The ruling returns the case to a district court for consideration of the law challenge on the merits.

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A second federal court has declined to halt the Minnesota law that bars political deepfake videos close to an election.

Minnesota law restricting deepfakes close to elections holds up in federal court for now

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