Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Business

DeSantis, GOP’s Social Media Censorship Law Struck Down in Court

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday struck down legislation pushed by Governor DeSantis which would pressure social media companies on their content moderation policies. It’s the second time the law has been held as unconstitutional in court, following a similar ruling in June 2021.

Under the law, large social media entities like Facebook, Twitter, and others would have to publish their content moderation policies, specifically where it pertains to ‘censor[ing], deplatform[ing], and shadow ban[ning]’. The grounds for the court’s rejection is that social media companies are private entities who, under the First Amendment, have the right to dictate what speech is supported by their platform.

ADVERTISEMENT

Read More: Governor DeSantis Signs Anti-Protest Bill, Endorses Leek & Renner


The efforts of DeSantis and the state’s GOP-majority legislature are part of a larger pushback against social media companies for perceived censorship, often associated with a liberal bias. Major platforms taking action against public health misinformation in 2020 onward drew the ire of those who affirmed that information, as did Twitter’s decision to permanently ban former President Donald Trump in 2021 amongst Trump’s supporters.

Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom, one of three judges on the panel that struck this law down, was an appointee of President Trump. “Put simply, with minor exceptions, the government can’t tell a private person or entity what to say or how to say it,” he said. “We hold that it is substantially likely that social media companies — even the biggest ones — are private actors whose rights the First Amendment protects.”

The policy was signed into law by DeSantis in May 2021, and was brought to court by the tech lobbyist NetChoice. “One of their major missions seems to be suppressing ideas,” he said at the time.

Since the rise of MySpace in the early 00’s, social media usership has grown to around one third of the global population according to Our World in Data. The privatization of interpersonal communication came without widely accepted policies regarding the vetting of information, and misinformation can reach wide audiences without being checked for accuracy.

This has left the duty of policing falsehoods which harm the public largely in the hands of the platforms themselves, absent any prior litigation or legislation commenting on their unique ability to do so. It’s groundbreaking procedures like the legal battle over DeSantis’s social media bill which stand to shape the confines of 21st century communication in America.

Written By

Chris Gollon is a Flagler County resident since 2004, as well as a staple of the local independent music scene and avid observer of Central Florida politics, arts, and recreation.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. The dude

    May 25, 2022 at 4:33 pm

    Pretty simple. Abide by the restrictions you agreed to when you signed up for whichever social media platform, and don’t try to pass off demonstrably false information as fact while on there and you won’t get “deplatformed, censored, or banned”.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

You May Also Like

Weather

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced ‘Operation Blue Ridge’ this week, sending a team of emergency responders to assist with disaster recovery from Hurricane Helene in...

State Politics

Gov. Ron DeSantis has distanced himself – and the state government – from controversial plans to initiate large developments in several Florida state parks....

2024 Election

Gov. Ron DeSantis has cast his endorsement in the Florida House of Representatives District 19 election, opting for Sam Greco over his GOP primary...

2024 Election

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis endorsed a slate of candidates in county school board races across the state last week, casting his stamp of approval...

2024 Election

The landscape of the 2024 presidential election was drastically changed on Sunday when President Joe Biden announced he’d be dropping his bid for a...