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Florida senators introduced a bill that would require anyone blogging about DeSantis to be registered with the state.
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SB 1316 requires bloggers to register within five days of their first post.
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The proposed law has not yet been put to a vote, and it is unclear whether DeSantis will support it.
New legislation introduced in Florida requires bloggers who write about Governor Ron DeSantis to register with the state.
the bill is Presented to the Florida Senate on February 28 Republican Rep. Jason Brodeur. SB1316 Bloggers who are paid to write about DeSantis must register with their state ethics committee or the Florida Department of Legal Affairs. From the first posting she must do so within 5 days.
Bloggers must be registered with the state if they write anything about the Florida lieutenant governor, cabinet members, or members of the Florida legislature.
In SB 1316, if a blogger writes about an elected official, the amount of payment received for the article (rounded to the nearest ten dollars) and the name of the “person or entity” who made the payment, Bloggers are required to submit monthly reports.
The bill suggests that writers who don’t turn in their papers on time should be fined $25 a day. According to the bill, bloggers could be fined up to $2,500.
Brodeur’s proposed law does not appear to apply to the press, but instead targets individual bloggers writing about DeSantis and other officials.
The proposed bill has not yet been put to a vote. It is unclear whether DeSantis personally supports Brodeur’s bill.
Brodeur told the website florida politics He believes that “paid bloggers are lobbyists who write instead of talk.”
Ron KubyNew York lawyers specializing in free speech NBC News Brodeur’s proposal violates the First Amendment.
“We don’t register journalists. We can’t force authors to register,” Kuby told NBC News.
The proposal to impose more restrictions on people writing about DeSantis runs counter to the governor’s message that Florida should have as much freedom as possible.July, Insider Visited DeSantis’ fundraising page He was selling a gold “Freedom Team Membership Card.”
Representatives for Brodeur and DeSantis did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
The ACLU of Florida, the First Amendment Foundation, and the Marion B. Blechner First Amendment Project at the University of Florida did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
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