Fla. House Passes Social Media Bill; Senate Cuts Private Suits
The Florida House passed a bill 78-41 Wednesday to make it unlawful for social media sites to de-platform political candidates, and require sites be transparent about policing users. The Senate passed SB-7072 before but must agree with the House’s Tuesday…
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amendment tweaking the definition of social media in the bill (see 2104270056). "This bill protects the rights of the Floridians who have voted us here to represent them,” said sponsor Rep. Blaise Ingoglia (R) in livestreamed floor debate Tuesday. “Just because the federal government refuses to act does not mean this legislature shouldn't.” Likening the U.S. today to Cuba and censorship states, Rep. Thad Altman (R) urged colleagues to "stand up against this totalitarian view against our first amendment." Big tech is “an existential threat” to the republic, added Rep. Anthony Sabatini (R). There’s a way for politicians to avoid getting deplatformed, said Rep. Carlos Smith (D): "Stop trafficking in conspiracy theories" and "pushing misinformation." Other Democrats slammed the bill as unconstitutional. Also Wednesday, the Florida Senate removed a private right of action in the House’s privacy bill (HB-969) by adopting by voice an amendment by Sen. Jennifer Bradley (R) that effectively replaced the House bill with the Senate’s version (SB-1734). The proposed law would be enforced entirely by the Florida attorney general, Bradley said on the livestreamed Senate floor session Wednesday. Today’s internet is a “surveillance economy,” she said. "In a perfect world, the federal government would act.” The Senate teed up a vote by placing HB-969 on third reading, but senators didn’t vote by our deadline. HB-969 sponsor Rep. Fiona McFarland (D) will take "a close look" at Senate language, her aide said. Bradley’s amendment includes “changes fought for by the larger business community in Florida,” including “more favorable definitions of selling and sharing data” and removing the private right, blogged McGuireWoods Consulting.