New Florida Law Against “Social Network Censorship”

DeSantis, a Republican considered a potential presidential candidate for 2024, said the measure was part of “ the fight against oversight by the big tech companies. ”

“Many in our state faced censorship and other dictatorial behavior in Cuba and Venezuela,” he said, referring to many Florida voters who come from these two countries.

“Such as Big Tech-Companies that apply the rules unevenly to discriminate in favor of the dominant ideology in Silicon Valley will now be held accountable. ” His party colleague Donald Trump became from Twitter On The social networking site Facebook He was banned due to his remarks after his supporters raided the Capitol on January 6.

The law named SB 7072, which goes into effect July 1, mandates fines of up to $ 250,000 per day for platforms blocking candidates for state authorization.

The law also allows Florida residents who feel they have been treated “unfairly” by technology companies to be sued for financial damages.

‘Unconstitutional’

The law may be challenged because some civil rights activists view the law as a violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which relates to freedom of expression. “When it comes to freedom of expression, the website is no different from the newspaper: it has the primary right to determine which expression it permits and which expression is not permitted on its platform,” said Corbyn Barthold of TechFreedom.

“Florida is trying to force some of the major platforms to welcome statements that they wouldn’t otherwise accept,” Barthold said. He describes this procedure as “unconstitutional”.