Florida opposes free speech

[Mountain Man]

A new bill making its way through the Florida legislature would require any blogger who wants to write a political critique to first register with the Florida Office of Legislative Services or the Commission on Ethics. Furthermore, bloggers would be required to submit monthly disclosures about any payments they receive in relation to their editorial activities. Notably, these rules would not be applied to members of the press.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com...-ron-desantis/

[Ronson]

Holy Cow!

https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1316

It's not a law yet. Presumably the Florida senate will shoot that thing down.

[Mountain Man]

Presumably the Florida senate will shoot that thing down.

We can hope, or if it makes it past the senate, will DeSantis have the good sense to veto?

[CivilDiscourse]

We can hope, or if it makes it past the senate, will DeSantis have the good sense to veto?

Given how he went to punish Disney for speech I wouldn't count on it.

[Mountain Man]

Given how he went to punish Disney for speech I wouldn't count on it.

That was the incident that made me start watching DeSantis a little more closely.

[Sparko]

It's about elected officials or political groups paying bloggers to write about specific blog posts, not about criticizing them. It's basically tracking advertisements.


(2) If a blogger posts to a blog about an elected state 161 officer and receives, or will receive, compensation for that 162 post, the blogger must register with the appropriate office, as 163 identified in paragraph (1)(f), within 5 days after the first 164 post by the blogger which mentions an elected state officer.

https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bil...ext/Filed/HTML

[Mountain Man]

It's about elected officials or political groups paying bloggers to write about specific blog posts, not about criticizing them. It's basically tracking advertisements.


(2) If a blogger posts to a blog about an elected state 161 officer and receives, or will receive, compensation for that 162 post, the blogger must register with the appropriate office, as 163 identified in paragraph (1)(f), within 5 days after the first 164 post by the blogger which mentions an elected state officer.

https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bil...ext/Filed/HTML

The paragraph you cite doesn't say anything about the source of income, only that if they receive any sort of payment in association with their blogging activities, then they must register with the government and disclose the payment. This appears to be a clear violation of the First Amendment.

[Sparko]

The paragraph you cite doesn't say anything about the source of income, only that if they receive any sort of payment in association with their blogging activities, then they must register with the government and disclose the payment. This appears to be a clear violation of the First Amendment.

They sort of explain it elsewhere, but they could be clearer that they are talking about being paid to write what is basically an political advertisement about (or against I guess) an elected official. That's not "free speech" it's paid speech. Bought speech. If someone is simply writing what they personally think or believe they can say what they want without registering the payment. Basically the same as when a newspaper prints an "editorial" that is really an advertisement, they have to disclose that "this is a political advertisement paid for by xyz"

[rogue06]

A new bill making its way through the Florida legislature would require any blogger who wants to write a political critique to first register with the Florida Office of Legislative Services or the Commission on Ethics. Furthermore, bloggers would be required to submit monthly disclosures about any payments they receive in relation to their editorial activities. Notably, these rules would not be applied to members of the press.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com...-ron-desantis/

From a local affiliate

Source: Florida bill would require bloggers who write about governor to register with the state

Florida Sen. Jason Brodeur (R-Lake Mary) wants bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and other members of the Florida executive cabinet or legislature to register with the state or face fines.

Brodeur’s proposal, Senate Bill 1316: Information Dissemination, would require any blogger writing about government officials to register with the Florida Office of Legislative Services or the Commission on Ethics.

In the bill, Brodeur wrote that those who write “an article, a story, or a series of stories,” about “the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, a Cabinet officer, or any member of the Legislature,” and receives or will receive payment for doing so, must register with state offices within five days after the publication of an article that mentions an elected state official.

If another blog post is added to a blog, the blogger would then be required to submit monthly reports on the 10th of each month with the appropriate state office. They would not have to submit a report on months when no content is published.

For blog posts that “concern an elected member of the legislature” or “an officer of the executive branch,” monthly reports must disclose the amount of compensation received for the coverage, rounded to the nearest $10 value.

If compensation is paid for a series of posts or for a specific amount of time, the blogger would be required to disclose the total amount to be received, upon publication of the first post in said series or timeframe.

Additional compensation must be disclosed later on.

Failure to file these disclosures or register with state officials, if the bill passes, would lead to daily fines for the bloggers, with a maximum amount per report, not per writer, of $2,500. The per-day fine is $25 per report for each day it’s late.

The bill also requires that bloggers file notices of failure to file a timely report the same way that lobbyists file their disclosures and reports on assessed fines. Fines must be paid within 30 days of payment notice, unless an appeal is filed with the appropriate office. Fine payments must be deposited into the Legislative Lobbyist Registration Trust Fund if it concerns an elected member of the legislature.

For writing about members of the executive branch, fines would be made payable to the Executive Branch Lobby Registration Trust Fund or, if it concerns both groups, the fine may be paid to both related trust funds in equal amounts.

Explicitly, the blogger rule would not apply to newspapers or similar publications, under Brodeur’s proposed legislation.

In addition to the blogger regulations, the bill also removes provisions of state statutes to require judicial notices of sales to be published on publicly accessible websites, and specifies that a government agency can publish legally required advertisements and public notices on county sites if the cost is not paid by or recovered from an individual.

Should the bill pass, it would take effect immediately upon approval.


Source

© Copyright Original Source

What a moronic and even dangerous idea.

[Mountain Man]

They sort of explain it elsewhere, but they could be clearer that they are talking about being paid to write what is basically an political advertisement about (or against I guess) an elected official. That's not "free speech" it's paid speech. Bought speech. If someone is simply writing what they personally think or believe they can say what they want without registering the payment. Basically the same as when a newspaper prints an "editorial" that is really an advertisement, they have to disclose that "this is a political advertisement paid for by xyz"

I categorically disagree with your suggestion that compensated speech is not protected by the First Amendment.

[Sparko]

I categorically disagree with your suggestion that compensated speech is not protected by the First Amendment.

I am just saying that it is basically a paid advertisement disguised as a personal blog post. Sleazy at best. Like those infomercials disguised as a documentary. And political ads need to be labeled as such. Maybe the bill as written is going too far with "registering" the blog. Maybe they should just require them to print a disclaimer like newspapers and TV ads have to do when promoting a paid political ad.

[Mountain Man]

I am just saying that it is basically a paid advertisement disguised as a personal blog post. Sleazy at best. Like those infomercials disguised as a documentary. And political ads need to be labeled as such. Maybe the bill as written is going too far with "registering" the blog. Maybe they should just require them to print a disclaimer like newspapers and TV ads have to do when promoting a paid political ad.

If the bill is intended to stop politicians from sneaking paid advertisements under the radar, then I would think the bill should target them instead of blog owners. Make it the politician's responsibility to disclose if he is paying someone to write a critique.

But at the same time, as the bill is worded, the blog owner is on the hook if he receives compensation from any source. I mean, what if he's just writing his honest opinion while accepting donations from readers in order to pay for the web hosting? Sounds like he would have to register with the government and disclose all payments from people who may not necessarily want that information disclosed. We often talk about the "chilling effect" of legislation that serves to make people reluctant to do something they have every right to do.

[Sparko]

If the bill is intended to stop politicians from sneaking paid advertisements under the radar, then I would think the bill should target them instead of blog owners. Make it the politician's responsibility to disclose if he is paying someone to write a critique.

But at the same time, as the bill is worded, the blog owner is on the hook if he receives compensation from any source. I mean, what if he's just writing his honest opinion while accepting donations from readers in order to pay for the web hosting? Sounds like he would have to register with the government and disclose all payments from people who may not necessarily want that information disclosed. We often talk about the "chilling effect" of legislation that serves to make people reluctant to do something they have every right to do.

Yeah the bill is worded badly. I was just telling you what the intent seems to be after I read it. I agree they didn't do a good job making it clear, or even fair. But it wasn't about "opposing free speech" - at least not intentionally.

[shunyadragon]

We can hope, or if it makes it past the senate, will DeSantis have the good sense to veto?

What has DeSantis publicly stated concerning the Bill?

[shunyadragon]

From a local affiliate

Source: Florida bill would require bloggers who write about governor to register with the state

Florida Sen. Jason Brodeur (R-Lake Mary) wants bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and other members of the Florida executive cabinet or legislature to register with the state or face fines.

Brodeur’s proposal, Senate Bill 1316: Information Dissemination, would require any blogger writing about government officials to register with the Florida Office of Legislative Services or the Commission on Ethics.

In the bill, Brodeur wrote that those who write “an article, a story, or a series of stories,” about “the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, a Cabinet officer, or any member of the Legislature,” and receives or will receive payment for doing so, must register with state offices within five days after the publication of an article that mentions an elected state official.

If another blog post is added to a blog, the blogger would then be required to submit monthly reports on the 10th of each month with the appropriate state office. They would not have to submit a report on months when no content is published.

For blog posts that “concern an elected member of the legislature” or “an officer of the executive branch,” monthly reports must disclose the amount of compensation received for the coverage, rounded to the nearest $10 value.

If compensation is paid for a series of posts or for a specific amount of time, the blogger would be required to disclose the total amount to be received, upon publication of the first post in said series or timeframe.

Additional compensation must be disclosed later on.

Failure to file these disclosures or register with state officials, if the bill passes, would lead to daily fines for the bloggers, with a maximum amount per report, not per writer, of $2,500. The per-day fine is $25 per report for each day it’s late.

The bill also requires that bloggers file notices of failure to file a timely report the same way that lobbyists file their disclosures and reports on assessed fines. Fines must be paid within 30 days of payment notice, unless an appeal is filed with the appropriate office. Fine payments must be deposited into the Legislative Lobbyist Registration Trust Fund if it concerns an elected member of the legislature.

For writing about members of the executive branch, fines would be made payable to the Executive Branch Lobby Registration Trust Fund or, if it concerns both groups, the fine may be paid to both related trust funds in equal amounts.

Explicitly, the blogger rule would not apply to newspapers or similar publications, under Brodeur’s proposed legislation.

In addition to the blogger regulations, the bill also removes provisions of state statutes to require judicial notices of sales to be published on publicly accessible websites, and specifies that a government agency can publish legally required advertisements and public notices on county sites if the cost is not paid by or recovered from an individual.

Should the bill pass, it would take effect immediately upon approval.


Source

© Copyright Original Source

What a moronic and even dangerous idea.

The Modus Operandi of DeSantis.