Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has singed a first in the nation anti-tech censorship bill. The Federalist. DeSantis praised the bill and compared the big tech companies censorship campaigns to the kind of censorship that happens in Venezuela and Cuba. The bill will allow private citizens to sue tech companies for up to $100,000 for damages if they are censored or banned. It will also allow the states Attorney General to sue the big tech companies for violating antitrust laws. Finally, the bill prevents tech companies from deplatforming Florida political candidates and imposing a $250,000 a day fines for banning state wide candidates and $25,000 a day for local candidates.
My Comment:
It's about time that a state took such a strong stance against big tech censorship. The amount of damage that companies like Twitter, Facebook and Google have done to this country is almost incalculable. And their actions in the 2020 election is just one aspect of why I don't consider the results anywhere near legitimate. These tech companies are totally out of control and even have the power to censor the President of the United States.
Clearly something had to change. This law is a good start. Though most of the media focus has been on the fines for banning politicians it's the fact that normal people can sue the big tech companies for damages. Given how many people make their money online these days and how important social media sites are for gaining money its pretty clear that people should be able to. I know if I was banned from Twitter and Facebook this blog would die pretty much instantly and Google could kick me off of here at anytime. It would be nice if I could do something if that were to ever happen.
Don't get me wrong though, the actions against banning political candidates is a major win as well. I consider the banning of a political candidate from social media to be election interference and an in kind donation to any opposing candidate. It is in no way acceptable and the heavy fines issues in Florida should help defend against it.
Will this law hold up? I have no idea. I am guessing these big tech companies will somehow say their rights to free speech are being violated somehow. That legal argument seems absurd on its face and would go against other rulings governing free speech. After all, the Christian bakers had to bake the gay marriage cakes. Why can't big tech companies be forced to host content they don't like?
I do hope that other states and even countries go ahead and use this law as a foundation to their own laws against tech censorship. I don't think these laws have any chance of passing in blue or purple states but every state that has control of the government under Republican hands should pass similar bills. If they do big tech will be forced to act like the common carriers that they actually are and end viewpoint discrimination.
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