Florida legislature to ban social media ‘deplatforming’ politicians




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Florida is set to become first state to punish social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube for ‘deplatforming’ politicians with fines of up to $250,000 a day. 

Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis is set to sign the bill in a clear nod to his close political ally, former president Donald Trump, who was banned from most social media platforms following the January 6 attack on the nation’s capitol.   

S.B. 7072 was passed in the House with a 77-38 vote and in the Senate, 23-17.

The bill would prohibit social media companies from permanently deleting or banning political candidates. 




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Suspensions of up to 14 days would still be allowed, and platforms can remove individual posts that violate terms of service, the bill says. 

The bill would also allow Florida’s elections commission to hand out fines to social media companies who ban politicians from their platforms. 

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The bill goes back to the Senate to approve the amended House version of the bill that calls for social media platforms to be fined $25,000 a day if a political candidate is deplatformed and $250,000 if the politician is a statewide candidate seeking public office.    

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This bumps up the Senate’s previous version of the bill that called for $100,000 a day for statewide candidates and $10,000 a day for other candidates. 

Democrats claim this bill is a political reaction to Trump being banned from Facebook and Twitter after he continued to spread misinformation regarding the 2020 election after the capitol riots. 

‘Stop inciting insurrection against our republic. We’re hearing this bill because Twitter finally deplatformed former President Trump after five people were killed in an insurrection he incited at the U.S. Capitol,’ Democratic state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith said during debate on the bill, NBC News reported.

‘This bill is not about President Trump,’ Republican state Rep. John Snyder rebutted. ‘This bill is about the 22 million Floridians and their First Amendment rights.’ 




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Net Choice, a trade group for internet companies, testified against the bill during a hearing arguing that it would violate the companies’ free speech rights.  

‘The First Amendment makes clear that government may not regulate the speech of private individuals or businesses. This includes government action that compels speech by forcing a private social media platform to carry content that is against its policies or preferences,’ NetChoice President Steve DelBianco said.

DeSantis has condemned the ‘oligarchs in Silicon Valley’ for deplatforming Trump and other conservatives, azcentral.com reported.   

DeSantis has claimed Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are tougher on the political right in terms of censorship.

DeSantis revived his claim when a roundtable he hosted in March was removed from YouTube because the governor and scientists he invited were accused of airing COVID-19 misinformation, azcentral.com reported.

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Source: Thanks msn.com