Florida makes it illegal for Facebook and Twitter to ban politicians

Enlarge / Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. (credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis yesterday signed a bill into law to stop what he called the "censorship" of conservatives on social-media websites such as Twitter and Facebook. The law is likely to be challenged in court and has been described as blatantly unconstitutional by legal experts and advocacy groups across the political spectrum.

But Florida's governor and legislature were undeterred by the possibility that courts will strike down the law as violating the First Amendment. The law gives Floridians the right to sue Big Tech companies over content-moderation decisions and prohibits the companies from "deplatforming" political candidates and journalistic enterprises. It is scheduled to take effect on July 1.

"This session, we took action to ensure that 'We the People'-real Floridians across the Sunshine State-are guaranteed protection against the Silicon Valley elites," DeSantis, who has a Harvard University law degree, said in a press release. "Many in our state have experienced censorship and other tyrannical behavior firsthand in Cuba and Venezuela. If Big Tech censors enforce rules inconsistently, to discriminate in favor of the dominant Silicon Valley ideology, they will now be held accountable." Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez said the law is important because many Floridians "know the dangers of being silenced or have been silenced themselves under communist rule."

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