Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that his anti-Big Tech bill legislation will control the excesses of social media outlets.
“We think that this is the strongest thing that any state has done,” DeSantis told Fox News’ “Hannity.”
“And it’s got to be done. We’ve got to protect people against big tech censorship,” the governor continued.
The bill includes a provision that tech companies be transparent about any changes in service. Proposals outlined during the briefing include a requirement of notice for changes in terms of service, the freedom for political candidates to refuse to participate in targeted advertisements and content algorithms.
The bill would also include fines of $250,000 a day if a social media outlet deplatforms a political candidate in Florida and award damages of up to $100,000 for any candidate so targeted.
DeSantis told Fox that the legislation is “historic” and desperately needed, saying that “Big Tech has amassed a massive amount of power; they are monopolies … that are much more powerful than the monopolies of the early 20th century, and they are using their power to enforce orthodoxy and suppress speech and candidates that they disagree with.”
The legislation would also ban any algorithms that either support or suppress political content. (RELATED: Ron DeSantis Signs Bill Scrapping All Of Florida’s COVID Restrictions)
DeSantis said the bill will also provide protections for normal users, not just politicians. (RELATED: Ron DeSantis Calls Florida ‘America’s West Berlin’ After COVID-19 Response)
“But any Floridian who is deplatformed or censored would potentially have a right to sue Big Tech. We’re making [Big] Tech be transparent on their algorithms and on their terms of service and on the criteria that they use, because they don’t apply it fairly,” DeSantis said. “Twitter will be on Donald Trump as president in the United States, but yet they will let the Ayatollah Khameini talk about killing Jews. Are you kidding me?”
Social media outlets have previously deplatformed former President Donald Trump in early January, as well as other prominent conservative figures.