In an announcement put forth this past Tuesday by Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, a special session was called for that is slated to include the addressing of its 2021 law currently bogged down in court that would place a layer of protection on the states citizens from the harsh censorship coming from various social media platforms.
DeSantis issued these comments as part of a speech talking about an upcoming special session of Florida’s legislature that is also slated to deal with Disney’s status within the state.
Close to the tail end of his speech, DeSantis spoke on the importance of taking strides forward with the current legal challenges to this new Florida law targeting the censorship of large tech firms.
“Some of the things we did in that bill was not allow big tech companies to ban candidates for office because you really could have a situation where someone down the stretch, you have all these Senate races or something, and what are they going to do? They’re going to de-platform all the Republican nominees to be able to help their party?” stated the governor.
DeSantis also made sure to highlight that the law “gave individual Floridians the opportunity to use Florida’s unfair and deceptive trade practices act to sue big tech if they are censored or deplatformed.”
In another release from the office of the governor this past Tuesday, the details of the upcoming special session were highlighted, “Florida appealed this ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Case No. 21-12355.”
On the 28th of April, the oral arguments are slated to take place before the Eleventh Circuit court. It was argued in that proclamation, “Florida must prevail in its position that a state can regulate the arbitrary and inconsistent censorship practices of social media platforms due to the platforms’ unprecedented power over the free flow of information and ideas.”
Back in December, DeSantis highlighted and threw shade at the censorship of conservatives, by Big Tech, in the wake of the release of a brand new Heritage Foundation video that spoke on the extreme disparity of censorship taking place between Republican and Democratic House members.
“Big Tech has become the censorship arm of the Democratic Party and political left, silencing and de-platforming anyone who rejects the chosen left-wing narrative, stated DeSantis via Twitter back in Decemeber.
“Silicon Valley oligarchs shouldn’t be the arbiters of free speech in our country. We must fight back!” he claimed.
Big Tech has become the censorship arm of the Democratic Party and political left, silencing and de-platforming anyone who rejects the chosen left-wing narrative.
Silicon Valley oligarchs shouldn't be the arbiters of free speech in our country. We must fight back! https://t.co/7x3UZGDlrT
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) December 2, 2021
The Florida bill from May of 2021 stated, “Big Tech is prohibited from de-platforming Floridian political candidates. The Florida Election Commission will impose fines of $250,000 per day on any social media company that de-platforms any candidate for statewide office, and $25,000 per day for de-platforming candidates for non-statewide offices.”
The law was halted by a court injunction. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle claimed that banning “de-platforming” was a violation of the free speech rights of the various tech companies, claiming, “The legislation compels providers to host speech that violates their standards — speech they otherwise would not host — and forbids providers from speaking as they otherwise would.”
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