#thefuckery ...A bill has been proposed in Florida’s state legislature that would require bloggers to ‘register’ with the state and be approved before reporting on the state government and its officials, including ‘the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, a Cabinet officer, or any member of the Legislature,’ per text of the bill obtained by The Hill.
The bill, introduced by Republican State Sen. Jason Brodeur, states that, ‘[i]f a blogger posts to a blog about an elected state officer and receives, or will receive, compensation for that post, the blogger must register’ with the Florida Office of Legislative Services or the Commission on Ethics. Failure to do so would result in fines, beginning at $25 per day.
Exactly what type of journalists fall under the category of ‘blogger’ is not well-defined, but the bill’s language does state that ‘the term does not include the website of a newspaper or other similar publication.’
‘Paid bloggers are lobbyists who write instead of talk. They both are professional electioneers. If lobbyists have to register and report, why shouldn’t paid bloggers?’ Brodeur told Florida Politics.
A first amendment lawyer speaking to NBC News speculated that the law would not withstand legal challenges. ‘It's hard to imagine a proposal that would be more violative of the First Amendment,’ they said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who is widely believed to be weighing a 2024 run for the White House, has not publicly commented on this particular bill. However, DeSantis has frequently employed anti-media rhetoric publicly in the past and, according to a February 2023 report from Politico, urged GOP state lawmakers ‘to weaken state laws that have long protected journalists against defamation suits and frivolous lawsuit.'
Elisur Yeje
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