The state of Florida will fine social networks that suspend accounts of politicians

05/25/2021 11:08 AM

• Clarín.com

• Technology

Updated 05/25/2021 11:08 AM

Florida became the first state on Monday to regulate the way companies like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter moderate online speech, imposing

fines on companies on social networks

that permanently ban political candidates in the state.

The fine will be

$ 250,000 per day.

The law, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, is a direct response to Facebook and Twitter bans on former President Donald J. Trump in January.

In addition to fines for banning candidates, it makes it illegal to prevent some media outlets from posting to their platforms in

response to the content of their stories.

Mr. DeSantis said the signing of the bill, which is likely to face an unconstitutionality challenge, meant that Floridians would be

"guaranteed protection against Silicon Valley elites

."

"If Big Tech's censors apply the rules inconsistently, to discriminate in favor of the dominant Silicon Valley ideology, they will now be held accountable," he said in a statement.

Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida.

AFP photo

The bill is part of

a broader push

among conservative state legislatures to crack down on the ability of tech companies to manage posts on their platforms.

Political efforts took off after Mr. Trump was vetoed following the Jan.6 attack on Capitol Hill.

Lawmakers across the country have echoed

Mr. Trump's allegations that companies are biased

against conservative personalities and publications, even though those accounts often thrive online.

This year, more than 100 bills against corporate restraint practices were introduced across the country, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Many of the bills have died, but a proposal is still being debated in Texas.

Twitter declined to comment.

Google and Facebook did not comment on the signing of the bill.

The new regulation

Florida law makes it illegal to ban a candidate for state office for more than 14 days, in a move that appears to be aimed at curbing the kind of permanent "bans" social media platforms applied to Trump accounts.

Companies would be fined

$ 250,000 per day

in cases where they bar a candidate for state office.

The fine is less for candidates for other positions.

The controversial messages from Trump that led to his ban.

AFP photo

The law says that platforms cannot remove or otherwise prioritize content from a "newspaper company" that reaches a certain size.

Conservatives were outraged last year when Facebook and Twitter limited the scope of a New York Post article about the contents of

a laptop

that was said to belong to Hunter Biden, President Biden's youngest son.

By law, platforms are also required to

be clear about how they decide to remove content

or leave it standing.

Users could sue the platform if they believe that those conditions are applied inconsistently.

A last-minute amendment to the bill

exempts companies from the law if they own a theme park

or entertainment venue larger than "25 acres" (more than 100,000 square meters).

That means the law is unlikely to apply to the websites of Disney, which operates the Walt Disney World Resort, and Comcast, which owns Universal Studios Florida.

In Florida, as in dozens of other states, the push by Republican lawmakers to punish social media companies follows the party's other efforts to fuel the demands of

a conservative base that remains loyal to Trump.

Trump's suspension still continues.

AFP photo

Florida, along with Republican-governed legislatures in Oklahoma and Iowa, has passed laws in recent weeks limiting the right to protest and

providing immunity to drivers

who hit protesters on public roads.

And the Republican push to make it difficult to vote continues unabated after Mr. Trump's relentless lies about the 2020 election results. Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia signed a law with new voting restrictions, as did Mr. DeSantis in Florida,

and Texas Republicans are poised to approve the

nation's

biggest

voting rights

rollback soon

.

Donald Trump with Governor Brian Kemp, in mid-2020. Photo Reuters

The momentum of the entire party, nationally, stems from Mr. Trump's repeated complaints.

During his failed reelection campaign, Mr. Trump repeatedly lobbied to repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides immunity to certain technology companies from liability for user-generated content, even when using

their platforms to spread misinformation

.

Twitter and Facebook ended up banning Trump from their platforms after he inspired his followers to attack the Capitol on January 6.

Florida Republican lawmakers have echoed Trump's remarks.

"I've had numerous constituents come to me saying they

were banned

or displaced on social media sites," Rep. Blaise Ingoglia said during the debate on the bill.

But Democrats, libertarian groups and tech companies say the law violates the First Amendment rights of tech companies to decide how to handle content on their own platforms.

It

may

also

be impossible to file complaints under the law due to Section 230

, the legal protections for web platforms that Mr. Trump has attacked.

"It's the government telling

private entities how to talk,

" said Carl Szabo, the vice president of NetChoice, a trade association that includes Facebook, Google and Twitter as members.

"Overall, it's a gross misinterpretation of the First Amendment."

He said the First Amendment was designed to protect sites like Reddit from government intervention, not to protect

"Reddit politicians."

Florida's measure is likely to be challenged in court, said Jeff Kosseff, a professor of cybersecurity law at the Naval Academy.

"I think this is the beginning to test the limits of the judges in these types of

restrictions for social networks,

" he said.

Source: The New York Times

Look also

Mark Zuckerberg has six months to answer five awkward questions about Facebook

Twitter resumed account verification: who can request it and how