Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that was supposed to help combat online censorship, only to draw the ire of tech companies and legal experts. In early spring, DeSantis announced plans for a Florida bill that would allow the state to penalize social media companies for censoring politicians. The bill, S.B. 7072, was presented as a tool for combating “cancel culture” and Big Tech’s supposed monopoly on communication.
According to the law, Florida residents can now sue any tech company for up to $250,000 a day for removing a statewide political candidate from their platform for more than two weeks. The fine will decrease to $25,000 if the candidate runs for other positions, such as county sheriff. For an individual to get covered by this policy, they must register at the Florida Division of Elections or the website of an election supervisor. The bill also added provisions that would allow users to bring lawsuits against tech companies if they think the company is inconsistent about content decisions. That restricted social media platforms from changing content moderation policy more than every 30 days.
