Florida Passes Legislation That Will Fine Social Media Platforms for Banning Political Candidates
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill Monday that will fine social media platforms that try to permanently ban political candidates.
DeSantis and other Republicans have touted the bill as a way to protect Floridians over accusations of tech giants censoring GOP lawmakers, but it faced pushback from Democrats in the state legislature and the tech industry over imposing control over how platforms moderate content.
The bill prohibits most tech companies from banning politicians in the state. Under the newly signed law, the Florida Election Commission can impose fines of $250,000 per day on any social media company that deplatforms any candidate for statewide office and $25,000 per day for deplatforming candidates for non-statewide offices.
