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A proposed law in Florida would force bloggers who write about Governor Ron DeSantis and other elected officials to register with state offices and file monthly reports or earn A fine of $25 will be imposed. The bill was introduced in the Florida Senate on Tuesday by Republican Senator Jason Brodeur.
If enacted, the proposed law could be challenged in court on the grounds that it violates First Amendment protections on freedom of speech and press. Brodur defended his bill, saying, “Paid bloggers are lobbyists who write instead of speak. Both are professional electors. If lobbyists must register and report, why not pay bloggers?” Can’t you?” he said. According to the Florida Politics news website.
The bill’s text defines bloggers as people who write to websites or web pages that are “frequently updated with opinion, commentary, or business content.” Websites operated by newspapers and “similar publications” are excluded from the definition.
The proposed registration requirements would apply to bloggers who receive compensation in exchange for writing about elected state officials, including “governors, lieutenant governors, ministers, or members of Congress.” Bloggers writing about members of Congress must register with the state legislative branch, and bloggers writing about governors and other members of the executive branch must register with the Ethics Commission.
“If a blogger blogs about an elected state official and has received or will receive compensation for that posting, the blogger must be registered for the appropriate position… A state official within five days of the first posting mentioning a state official who was identified,” the bill said. “On registration with the appropriate office, the blogger is required to submit monthly reports ten days after her end of each calendar month from the time the blog post was added to the blog.”
Bigger First Amendment Violations ‘Hard to Imagine’
The report must clearly state “the name of the individual or entity that paid compensation for the blogger’s blog posts” and the “amount of compensation received”. “For each report he will be fined not more than $2,500 a day, and if he is one day late, he will be fined $25 a day.” Bloggers’ requirements use “the same procedure by which lobbyists are notified of their failure to file reports in a timely manner and of the amount of fines imposed.”
“It’s hard to imagine any proposal that violates the First Amendment any more,” said New York-based civil rights attorney Ron Kuby, according to an NBC News article. I will not register and cannot force authors to register.”
Scott Wilkens, senior counsel at Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute, told Ars: This bill regulates speech about matters of public concern—the issues at the heart of the First Amendment. ”
DeSantis demanded new libel laws
The Florida legislature is separately considering proposals to make it easier for people to sue media organizations for defamation. These proposals have also been criticized for undermining free speech. Brodeur filed one of his defamation proposals on Monday.
The defamation proposal last month convened a roundtable on media defamation and asked Congress to “protect Floridians from the life-changing effects that defamation from the media can cause to those without the means and means.” spurred by DeSantis. A platform to protect yourself. “
“I’ve seen previous generations of legacy media increasingly move away from the truth, and instead seek to elevate their favorite narratives and partisan activism over reporting the facts,” DeSantis said. When they attack civilians, I have a platform to fight back.When they attack civilians, these individuals don’t have enough means to fight back.In Florida, these massive I want to stand up for the little man against the media. Conglomerate.”
