Tesla is trying to use a free speech argument to defeat a complaint that it falsely advertised “Autopilot” as an autonomous vehicle system.
In response to the California Department of Motor Vehicles allegation about Autopilot, Tesla claims the state laws cited by the DMV violate the US Constitution’s First Amendment.
Tesla’s response, which was filed last week and published yesterday in a story by The Register, says that several California statutes and regulations cited by the DMV “are unconstitutional under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 2, of the California Constitution, as they impermissibly restrict Tesla’s truthful and nonmisleading speech about its vehicles and their features.”
Despite Tesla’s free speech claim, the US and state governments can enforce laws banning deceptive practices that harm consumers.
“Beyond the category of common-law fraud, the Supreme Court has also said that false or misleading commercial speech may be prohibited,” a Congressional Research Service report last year stated.
The California DMV’s 2022 complaint, alleging deceptive practices that violate state law, said that Tesla "made or disseminated statements that are untrue or misleading, and not based on facts, in advertising vehicles as equipped, or potentially equipped, with advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) features…
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
Tesla is trying to use a free speech argument to defeat a complaint that it falsely advertised “Autopilot” as an autonomous vehicle system.
In response to the California Department of Motor Vehicles allegation about Autopilot, Tesla claims the state laws cited by the DMV violate the US Constitution’s First Amendment.
Tesla’s response, which was filed last week and published yesterday in a story by The Register, says that several California statutes and regulations cited by the DMV “are unconstitutional under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 2, of the California Constitution, as they impermissibly restrict Tesla’s truthful and nonmisleading speech about its vehicles and their features.”
Despite Tesla’s free speech claim, the US and state governments can enforce laws banning deceptive practices that harm consumers.
“Beyond the category of common-law fraud, the Supreme Court has also said that false or misleading commercial speech may be prohibited,” a Congressional Research Service report last year stated.
The California DMV’s 2022 complaint, alleging deceptive practices that violate state law, said that Tesla "made or disseminated statements that are untrue or misleading, and not based on facts, in advertising vehicles as equipped, or potentially equipped, with advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) features…
The original article contains 487 words, the summary contains 204 words. Saved 58%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!