Florida’s government is taking steps to prevent taxpayer dollars from flowing to Big Tech companies accused of censoring conservative voices.
State Rep. Randy Fine, a Republican serving in the Florida House of Representatives, wrote a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis asking him to redirect funds currently going to Amazon, Twitter, Apple, Google, and Facebook.
“I am deeply disturbed to see the country’s major technologies use the actions of these few as a pretext to silence tens of millions of good, patriotic Americans, millions of whom live here in Florida,” he wrote. “It is clear that Twitter and Facebook are engaged in one-sided viewpoint discrimination targeting conservatives … and it is not disputed that Amazon, Apple, and Google are actively working to eliminate any alternative outlets where conservatives can speak freely.”
This morning I asked the Governor and Cabinet to divest the state from Amazon, Twitter, Apple, Google, and Facebook. They may get to decide who they do business with. So do we. @Fla_Pol pic.twitter.com/QfoUhghgnP
— Randy Fine (@VoteRandyFine) January 12, 2021
Fine’s letter comes weeks after his colleague, Rep. Anthony Sabatini, introduced legislation designed to punish technology companies that engage in censorship.
According to the Legislature, Sabatini’s bill, House Bill 33, “provides that owner or operator of social media website is subject to private right of action by certain website users in this state under certain conditions; prohibits website from using hate speech as defense; [and] authorizes AG to bring action on behalf of website users; provides exceptions.”
Now that @Twitter is currently conducting a MAJOR PURGE based on political viewpoint, now is a good time to check out my Bill which would disallow that? https://t.co/YIfbMNO8cZ
— Rep. Anthony Sabatini (@AnthonySabatini) January 8, 2021
The actions from Florida politicians come as social media behemoths face mounting criticism for their crackdowns on conservative voices. A poll conducted by John McLaughlin of McLaughlin & Associates found that 70% of people in the United States believe that technology companies are too powerful and should be regulated.
The censorship was met with international outcry, with French Finance Minister Bruno LeMaire calling Silicon Valley’s mass deplatforming of conservatives “one of the threats” to democracy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel labeling the bans a “problematic” breach of the “fundamental right to free speech.”
DeSantis’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
