Florida Republicans want to fine social media companies $250,000 a day for suspending politicians

April 28, 2021

Florida Republicans want to fine social media companies $250,000 a day for suspending politicians

Trump Twitter Ban — Photo showing the suspended Twitter account of Donald Trump on a smartphone outside the White House on January 8, 2021.
Joshua Roberts/Reuters

Florida's GOP wants social media companies to be fined for suspending politicians.
They proposed a $250,000 a day fine for any company that suspends the accounts of political candidates.
Republican lawmakers cited First Amendment rights, arguing that politicians should not be silenced.
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Florida's GOP lawmakers want social media companies like Facebook and Twitter to face a hefty $250,000 a day fine if they suspend the accounts of political candidates.

Florida's Republican lawmakers on Wednesday approved a bill in the Florida House of Representatives that proposes a daily fine on social media platforms that attempt to "silence" politicians, citing First Amendment rights.

The bill was supported by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who urged lawmakers in his state to sign on to his crusade to take big tech companies to task for actions that he said discriminate against conservatives.

DeSantis has not shied away from slamming tech companies and social media platforms including Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, for what he calls "Orwellian" media collusion to censor conservatives.

According to a report from the AP, House Bill 7013 was filed after Twitter permanently suspended Trump's Twitter account in the wake of the Capitol riots, for fear that the former president's tweets would incite violence.

"Let's send a message to these Big Tech monopolies that Florida will no longer stand for their shenanigans," Republican Rep. Blaise Ingoglia, one of the co-sponsors of the bill, told the AP.

Democrat lawmaker Rep. Anna Eskamani cited Trump's Twitter ban when arguing against the fine, dismissing the bill as part of Floridian Republican's efforts to appeal to their voter base.

"This bill is a retaliation for the former presidential administration being banned from social media sites by spreading false information, inciting riots, sedition, and violence," Eskamani told the outlet.

This proposal to fine tech companies for social media bans will be debated again in the Florida Senate on Thursday. It will be tabled in a package of legislation that is set to include proposals that may regulate how tech businesses use and collect the data they harvest regarding people's daily activities.

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