It’s no secret that relations between politicians and the press are particularly strained these days. It comes with the territory – the press and the powerful are supposed to have an adversarial relationship. The result, usually, is accountability – a definite public good.
But public good is not what will result if a bill introduced in the Florida Senate gets any traction. Quite the opposite. Republican Sen. Jason Brodeur’s bill would violate basic First Amendment rights, punish small, independent reporters and protect the powerful, all at the same time. The bill would require bloggers who write about the state’s top officials – the governor, lieutenant governor, cabinet officials and, yes, state legislators to register with the state within five days of publishing such a piece.
And it gets worse. Additional posts, which is something any good blogger following a story will write, triggers additional reporting to the state:
…the blogger would…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.
There are fines for refusing to do any of this, of course, which makes the entire thing even more obnoxious. Even former House Speaker Newt Gingrich felt compelled to call out the craziness:
The idea that bloggers criticizing a politician should register with the government is insane. it is an embarrassment that it is a Republican state legislator in Florida who introduced a bill to that effect. He should withdraw it immediately.
Yes, Sen. Brodeur should withdraw this bill. But if not, here’s all the license/registration/permission I need to write about him or any other Florida pol.
And in case the good Senator doesn’t understand that the Bill of Rights applies to the states, here’s the Florida version of the same right to a free and unfettered press.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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If the Florida legislature is stupid enough to pass such a rule I am certain DeSantis will veto it!
I feel compelled to defend the Republican party on many occasions. Norman here, triggers many of them. But it is hard to defend something that basically is an affront to everything the GOP is supposed to stand for. I can’t defend this moron in Florida or anyone else who would vote for such a monstrosity. Joining the Biden, Marxist, socialist, fascist, regime to put more pressure on freedom of speech is about the stupidest thing I have heard come out of the GOP and Florida for some time (McConnell complaining about releasing the Jan6 video, not withstanding, the other stupidest thing I heard this week). Either this was intended to damage DeSantis somehow or give him an obvious ringer to veto with extreme prejudice. Either way, it shows why republicans are always losing the propaganda war when you give Norman a headline like this one. Jeeesh!
Jason Brodeur is ignorant at best. You have to sign up so you can criticize your representation??? KMA, Brodeur.
RINO just revealed himself as having lied in his election campaign. I no longer believe that conservatives ever really had a “party”. We sure don’t have much representation. Even the better ones get funny ideas sometimes.
A distortion of the facts, Leahy,. Why don’t you publish the bill instead of giving us your interpretation and distorted speculation on it’s outcome.
What is this bill trying to achieve? What is the issue being addressed? I do not see a point Beyond, that is, stifling free speech. Is that truly the point and issue being addressed?
Idiot.
Don’t seem like an issue—the American people can see who is finding this mess. No free speech is being violated just appropriate documentation is being gathered. Most of these comments must be coming from those bloggers.
Damn RINO action
Phuggem!
Come on Florida Republicans. Get a grip and back off the control of speech activity. Acting like socialists – knock it off.