Babylon Bee Takes Hawaii to Court

Seth Dillon speaking with attendees at the 2021 Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. Photo credit: Gage Skidmore

​The Babylon Bee has a knack for predicting the future. In 2021, they joked that Kamala Harris was taking likability lessons from Hillary Clinton – weeks before reports confirmed Clinton allies were advising Harris’s team. They parodied Trump claiming to have done more for Christianity than Jesus, and two years later, he said nearly the same thing. They mocked economic spin with “9 Reasons Not to Worry About the Tanking Economy” – just before The Washington Post published “7 Ways a Recession Could Be Good for You Financially.”
 
What is their latest prophecy come true? Hawaii just made it a crime to joke about politicians online.
 
In July 2024, Gov. Josh Green signed Senate Bill 2687 into law. It criminalizes online content – particularly satire and parody – that could be considered “materially deceptive” and harmful to a candidate’s reputation or campaign. The law mandates disclaimers on satirical posts and threatens violators with fines and jail time.
 
Alliance Defending Freedom, representing The Babylon Bee and Hawaii resident Dawn O’Brien, is challenging the law in federal court. ADF attorney Mathew Hoffmann called it “censorship, pure and simple,” and warned that satire is among the most protected forms of speech under the First Amendment.
 
“We’re used to getting pulled over by the joke police, but comedy isn’t a crime,” said Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon. “We’ll never stop fighting to defend that freedom.”
 

• O’Brien, who says the law stifles her ability to share political humor, explained: “‘Hawai’i’ and ‘Aloha’ are both rooted in ‘ha’ – the breath of life. No ‘ha’ means no aloha and no Hawai’i. Our lawmakers are trying to steal inalienable rights from our ‘ohana’ [friends].”

 
The Hawaii Office of the Public Defender warned that the bill would chill free speech. The Motion Picture Association requested an exemption for parody and satire. Despite these objections, the legislature passed it nearly unanimously.
 
While this might sound like a one-off overreach, the path Hawaii is treading is familiar—and dangerous.
 

• In Germany, people are criminally prosecuted for memes, fake quotes, or insulting politicians. Authorities call it protecting democracy; in reality, it stifles dissent. That’s what laws like S.B. 2687 do. They weaponize vague language to intimidate people into silence. If the government decides what counts as a joke or what harms a candidate’s image, it holds veto power over speech itself.

 
The First Amendment protects offensive jokes, political parody, and even biting satire – not because they’re always tasteful, but because they keep power in check.
 
This case is about far more than internet humor. It’s about the freedom to criticize, to joke, and to laugh at those in charge. If this law stands, it won’t stop at memes. It’ll spread. And the joke will be on us.

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