Florida's Republican-dominated Senate has adopted a bill, SB 7072, aimed at containing the power of social media companies to silence users, including political candidates, by banning or shadowbanning them.
Championed by Governor Ron DeSantis in the wake of controversial decisions by Twitter and Facebook to remove former President Trump from their platforms while he was still in office, the bill, that will have to be approved by the House, has met with both praise and criticism, even from those who support the general intent behind it.
The Florida bill has garnered particular attention as the first piece of legislation of its kind proposed at that level, one that could possibly serve as a model for other states to attempt to tackle tech companies' role in US politics.
The bill seeks to force social media companies to be transparent about their rules around deplatforming users and apply those rules in a consistent manner, at the same time prohibiting these companies from banning political candidates. Those in violation of the rule would have to pay from $10,000 to $100,000 per each day of the breach of the law, depending on the candidates' status as statewide or otherwise.
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