Florida
Here’s where it all started. Back in May last year, Florida governor, and apparent Elon Musk sycophant Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill that would ban social media companies from knowingly deplatforming political candidates. The bill, which was first proposed a month earlier was widely seen as a direct response to tech platforms’ near-universal decision to boot Donald Trump’s account over claims he used his platform to incite a mod to storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. The law would fine social media companies $250,000 a day for banning political candidates.
Since then, Florida’s bill has waded through legal hell. Last June a federal court issued a preliminary injunction blocking the bill on First Amendment grounds. “Like prior First Amendment restrictions, this is an instance of burning the house to roast a pig,” U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle wrote at the time. Florida appealed that courts rule only to have the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals uphold the block earlier this year. The court did allow for some of the law’s lesser provisions, like one allowing banned users to access their data for up to 60 days, to proceed.
