🤷 Florida will fine social media companies that ban politicians

And it could be a giant legal mess. 

• This is a direct response to the suspensions and bans of Trump: Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law on Monday, making it illegal for tech platforms like YouTube and Facebook to ban politicians for longer than 14 days, while also setting up strict guidelines for why they kick any users off their platforms. He said, “If Big Tech censors enforce rules inconsistently, to discriminate in favor of the dominant Silicon Valley ideology, they will now be held accountable.” 

• What he didn’t say is a constitutional challenge is almost a guarantee: This is a case of Florida telling private companies what they can and can’t do with regards to speech. That is protected by the First Amendment. “This is so obviously unconstitutional, you wouldn’t even put it on an exam,” University of Miami law professor A. Michael Froomkin told WIRED.  

Section 230 is at play, too

The well-known federal internet law preempts state law, and the new Florida law is likely in conflict. 

The Verdict

Odds are this law will be taken down in a court battle before it ever gets put to use.