Social media companies will not be able to permanently remove people from their platforms under a strict new Florida law.
The bill passed on Thursday by the GOP-dominated state legislature and Gov. While awaiting the signature of Ron DeSantis, it would make it a crime to remove state political candidates from Twitter and Facebook, and pay a fine of $ 250,000 per day to any statewide candidate. has been removed.
Removing more local candidates would cost the company $ 25,000 per day.
The bill also requires tech companies to give users seven days’ notice that they are at risk of being banned and gives them an opportunity to fix the problem. Up to 14 days of suspension will be allowed.
GOP state Rep. John Sneider said Wednesday that the bill is sending a strong message to Silicon Valley that they are not absolute arbiters of the truth. NBC News reports
. “What this bill does is give a loud message that the constitution does not have an asterisk that only states some speech as free and protected.”
Big tech advocacy groups backtracked, saying the law would violate their First Amendment right and decide who could participate on their platforms.
“This bill eschews conservative values, violates the First Amendment, and will force websites to host antiseptic, racist, and hateful content.” Carl Szabo, vice president of business group NetChoice Told USA Today. “Content moderation is critical to an Internet that is safe and valuable for families and Floridian small businesses, but this bill will undermine this important ecosystem.”
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