Florida Lawmakers Introduce Bills Seeking To Stop Censorship By Big Tech

Tallahassee, FL – The state of Florida has introduced bills that would allow the state to sue technology companies for censorship while Republican leadership is also discussing divesting from Big Tech.

Florida State Representative Randy Fine sent a letter to Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday asking that the state divest from Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Apple and Google since they suspended President Donald Trump’s social media accounts, according to Florida Today.

“Well, I think these companies get to choose who they want to do business with, so do we in the state of Florida,” Fine said on Fox News. “I don’t a like a world in which these big technology companies are seeking to literally silence the views of half of the country,”

“Those are my constituents who are using these sites,” Fine said. “And so I don’t think they should be forced to invest in companies that simply don’t want them. … When you tell half your customers to pound sand, it typically doesn’t work well for you.”

Fine and DeSantis are both Republicans.

Fine said he also will introduce legislation that would “forbid any state or local government from conducting any business with these companies,” effective July 1, according to Florida Today.

That would mean no government entity could do advertising on Facebook, Twitter or Google or use Amazon and could not purchase Apple or Android devices, according to Florida Today.

Due to the monopoly that these tech companies hold on advertising and smartphones, such action could create significant problems for the state.

Florida has also introduced legislation that would address Big Tech’s censorship of individual accounts.

Senate Bill 520 was filed Jan. 11 and would require social media websites to provide individual and business users of the site with a specified timeframe and must explain what the website has suspended or disabled that user’s account.

In December, Florida state representative Anthony Sabatini introduced House Bill 33 authorizes the state to file legal against on behalf of website users against Big Tech companies that censor content.

“Proud to file this Bill to stop Big-Tech political censorship,” Sabatini wrote on Facebook. “The left defines hate speech as: ‘something I don’t like,’ or ‘anything conservative.'”