Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was channeling John Hancock when he became the first to sign a form of legislation aimed at reigning in the seemingly unlimited power of big tech social media giants like Facebook and Twitter. He was the centerpiece of a big ceremony at Florida International University. The law lets private individuals sue the giants and prevents political candidates from being censored on social media.
DeSantis is the first
The stroke of his pen was historic. Governor DeSantis made a bold move which hopefully will be followed by more conservative state leaders. Even the biggest social media platforms can be “suspended” for up to a full 14 days for infractions.
They will now fall under the jurisdiction of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. Signature by the Governor was the final hurdle after passing through both the Florida House and Senate chambers. Now, SB 7072 is officially a law.
“Silicon valley thinks they know better than you,” DeSantis declared at the signing ceremony. “This is not how a free society should operate. They use secret algorithms and shadow banning to shape debates and control the flow of information.
To make things even worse, “they evade accountability by claiming they’re just neutral platforms.” That’s a load of crap the conservative Governor insists. They say he’s on the short list as running mate to Donald Trump in 2024. That’s one of the reasons why.
Governor DeSantis wants “to thank a lot of Floridians who have spoken out in favor of making sure that individual Floridians are protected against censorship.”
He’s thrilled to note that “Florida’s Big Tech Bill gives every Floridian the power to fight back against deplatforming and allows any person to sue Big Tech companies.” Anyone harmed by the censorship can claim “up to $100,000 in damages.” This law levels “the playing field between celebrity and citizen on social media.”
Florida’s Big Tech Bill gives every Floridian the power to fight back against deplatforming and allows any person to sue Big Tech companies for up to $100,000 in damages. Today, we level the playing field between celebrity and citizen on social media. https://t.co/SOW6DZZT2K
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 24, 2021
Also requires disclosure
The thing that really has liberals fuming about in the law DeSantis just signed is the provision for some real transparency. The law also “requires the platforms to publish detailed standards explaining how they decide which platforms are selected for censorship.”
Not only that, they have to play fair. The law requires the tech megaliths to “apply these standards consistently.”
“Anyone posting criticism of lockdowns, those things were taken down, they were censored but now we stand here and look at Florida you know we’re open and people flock here,” Governor DeSantis proclaims.
“These are major issues and I would say those lockdowns have ruined millions of people’s lives all around this country.” He’s not happy with how tech companies are more interested in “woke” social engineering than writing software solutions.
“Woke big tech companies,” DeSantis points out, “arbitrarily enforce their terms of service and treat Floridians unfairly.” Not anymore. “Censorship used as a weapon to silence opposing Free Speech” is a thing of the past. At least in Florida they won’t be able to “deplatform someone without telling them why they did it.”
Liberals are all whining that “the new law will run counter to Section 230 of the Telecommunications Decency Act which removes liability for platforms as opposed to publishers over what people say on their websites.” Conservatives disagree.
