'Suggon Deeznutz': Elon Musk claps back at California Governor Gavin Newsom after sharing manipulated Kamala Harris campaign video

Musk, who is no stranger to internet lingo and pop culture, was making a joke here, saying 'deez nutz' which refers to testicles essentially. 'Suggon' translates to 'suck on'.

Elon Musk was unapologetic after sharing a manipulated video of Kamala Harris, who is running for US president.

The video, which appears digitally manipulated, was shared by the billionaire on the social media platform he owns - X.

Democrat and California Governor Gavin Newsom slammed this, saying "Manipulating a voice in an 'ad' like this one should be illegal." He added that he would be signing a bill in some weeks to ensure it is.

Clapping back at Newsom, Musk said in a tongue-in-cheek fashion that he had checked with 'renowned world authority, Professor Suggon Deeznutz', adding that it was the opinion of the 'professor' that 'parody is legal in America'.

Musk, who is no stranger to internet lingo and pop culture, was making a joke here, where 'Suggon' translates to 'suck on'.

X policy states that it prohibits the sharing of 'synthetic, manipulated or out-of-context media that may deceive or confuse people and lead to harm.'

The platform's current policy came into being in April 2023, well after Musk took over. It defines misleading media as content that is “significantly and deceptively altered, manipulated or fabricated” and that is “likely to result in widespread confusion on public issues.” Such content, as per the policy, must either be labeled or removed.

In the past, Musk has said that X’s “Community Notes” feature should be used to alert the public to possible misleading information.

While the account which initially uploaded the video called it out as parody, Musk made no such disclaimer when he shared the same.

The Federal Election Campaign Act also prohibits fraudulent misrepresentation of federal candidates or political parties, but the law, written in 1971, is ambiguous when it comes to modern technologies such as AI.

In August, the Federal Election Commission approved a rulemaking petition from watchdog group Public Citizen calling for the law to be amended to clarify that it “applies to deliberately deceptive Artificial Intelligence (AI) campaign advertisements.”

That amendment was supported by the Democratic National Committee, as well as 52 Democratic members of Congress, but it was opposed by the Republican National Committee, which said that it was “not a proper vehicle for addressing this complex issue” and argued that it could violate the First Amendment.

The commission has not yet voted on the proposal.

It was earlier reported that Musk had announced he would give $45 million per month to Donald Trump's campaign, which he later debunked. However, the influential innovator has made no secret for his preference for Trump heading into the US elections this year.

(With NYT inputs)