Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an anti-Big Tech bill on Monday that would stop social media companies from kicking users off their platforms and prevent online censorship.
The legislation, which the Republican called “Florida’s Big Tech Bill,” would make it illegal to ban state political candidates from Facebook and Twitter and would dole out penalties of $250,000 a day on social media companies for any statewide candidate who is removed from a platform. De-platforming more local candidates would incur a fee of $25,000 a day.
The bill also forces social media giants to give users notice seven days before they are likely to be banned and give them a chance to change their behavior and resolve the issue on the platform. The bill passed the Republican-led Florida state Legislature in April.
James O’Keefe, a conservative activist and the founder of Project Veritas, was behind DeSantis when he announced the social media bill signing on Monday. O’Keefe recently sued Twitter for defamation, claiming that the social media giant falsely accused him of creating fake accounts in order to justify banning him from the platform.
Lawmakers in Texas, Arizona, and North Dakota have also introduced bills that mandate greater transparency regarding content moderation and prevent social media platforms from canceling conservative speech.
FACEBOOK TO GIVE ABILITY TO SNITCH ON USERS TO HAVE CONTENT TAKEN DOWN
Some critics, including conservatives, say the Florida bill is unconstitutional and would make social media platforms dangerous places for online content.
“This bill abandons conservative values, violates the First Amendment, and would force websites to host antisemitic, racist, and hateful content.” Carl Szabo, vice president of trade group NetChoice, told the Washington Examiner.
If the anti-censorship bills become law and are enforced, social media platforms will be incentivized to change their content guidelines and rules to restrict more content out of an abundance of caution, conservative lawyers say.
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“Content moderation is crucial to an internet that is safe and valuable for families and Floridian small businesses, but this bill would undermine this important ecosystem,” said Szabo, who also teaches internet law at George Mason University.
