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Accountability in State Government v Knudsen

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Case Information
Case name Accountability in State Government and Dan Bartel v. Austin Knudsen et al.[1]
Court U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, Helena Division[1]
Docket 6:26-cv-00038-SPW[1]
Filed May 6, 2026[2]
Judge(s) Susan P. Watters (September 16, 2026 order)[1]
Plaintiffs Accountability in State Government; Dan Bartel[1]
Defendants Austin Knudsen, Attorney General; Kevin Downs, Lewis and Clark County Attorney; Chris Gallus, Commissioner of Political Practices — in their official capacities[1]
Case type Constitutional challenge to AI election-speech regulation[1]
Claims / issues Challenge to Senate Bill 25; scope of preliminary injunctive relief[1]
Status September 16, 2026: preliminary injunction granted protecting the named plaintiffs[1]

Accountability in State Government v. Knudsen challenges Montana’s regulation of AI-generated election communications under Senate Bill 25, codified at Montana Code Annotated sections 13-35-801 through 13-35-804 (2025). The plaintiffs are a political committee and Dan Bartel.[1]

Background and standing

The September 16 order describes political mailers that combined photographs with AI-generated imagery, including pride flags, pronoun pins and a gas pump spraying ten-dollar bills. After administrative complaints, Commissioner Gallus sought responses from the plaintiffs. On August 20, he stated that the complaints should be dismissed under the statute’s satire-or-parody exemption.[3]

The court nevertheless found pre-enforcement standing and rejected mootness. The plaintiffs intended further election advertising; the officials had not disavowed future enforcement, and the threatened administrative process could chill their speech. The promised dismissal of the existing complaints did not remove that continuing dispute.[3]

September 16, 2026 preliminary injunction

Judge Susan P. Watters granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. The order bars the named officials from reviewing, investigating, prosecuting, adjudicating or enforcing the Act against Accountability in State Government and Bartel.[1]

For preliminary relief, the court found the plaintiffs likely to succeed on their First Amendment challenge. It treated the Act as content-based and viewpoint-based, including because its reputation-injury provision distinguished critical from favorable synthetic depictions. Although election integrity was a compelling interest, the officials had not shown that less restrictive alternatives would fail. The court also distinguished the required content disclaimer from a neutral identification of an advertisement’s sponsor. It did not reach the separate Fourteenth Amendment vagueness arguments.[4]

The court limited relief to the named plaintiffs under its reading of Trump v. CASA and the Judiciary Act of 1789. The litigation remains at the preliminary-injunction stage.[1] Daily Montanan reported the decision on September 18 and described the dispute over AI-altered political mailers.[5]

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Accountability in State Government et al. v. Knudsen et al., No. 6:26-cv-00038-SPW (D. Mont.), ECF 31, September 16, 2026, pp. 1, 38–40.
  2. ↑ Complaint, Accountability in State Government et al. v. Knudsen et al., No. 6:26-cv-00038-SPW (D. Mont.), ECF 1, filed May 6, 2026, p. 1 (court filing stamp).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 D. Mont., ECF 31, September 16, 2026, pp. 5–6, 9–21.
  4. ↑ D. Mont., ECF 31, September 16, 2026, pp. 21–33, including p. 21 n. 1.
  5. ↑ Jordan Hansen, Daily Montanan, “Federal judge says AI deepfake election law violates First Amendment,” September 18, 2026.
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