{"id":581978,"date":"2021-07-04T10:35:40","date_gmt":"2021-07-04T14:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=581978"},"modified":"2021-07-04T10:35:42","modified_gmt":"2021-07-04T14:35:42","slug":"ron-desantis-goes-to-war-over-big-tech-heres-why-this-battle-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ron-desantis-goes-to-war-over-big-tech-heres-why-this-battle-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Ron DeSantis Goes To War Over Big Tech: Here\u2019s Why This Battle Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fron-desantis-goes-to-war-over-big-tech-heres-why-this-battle-matters%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=581978&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/GettyImages-1323562514-e1625242393929.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>This week, a Clinton-appointed federal judge blocked a Florida law which aimed to both protect free speech online and prevent \u201ca social media platform from willfully deplatforming a candidate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Governor Ron DeSantis has reportedly vowed to appeal the ruling, indicating that this battle in the broader war over the intersection of legislation and technology is far from over.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Here\u2019s everything you need to know about DeSantis\u2019 law, and why it was struck down.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>What did the law aim to achieve?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>DeSantis signed the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/breaking-ron-desantis-signs-bill-cracking-down-on-big-tech-these-platforms-have-become-our-public-square\">legislation<\/a> in late May, aiming to rein in Big Tech companies and empower users who believed they had been discriminated against unfairly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>According to DeSantis, under SB 7072:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span>All Floridians treated unfairly by Big Tech platforms will have the right to sue companies that violate this law \u2014 and win monetary damages. This reform safeguards the rights of every Floridian by requiring social media companies to be transparent about their content moderation practices and give users proper notice of changes to those policies, which prevents Big Tech bureaucrats from \u201cmoving the goalposts\u201d to silence viewpoints they don\u2019t like.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span>The Attorney General of Florida can bring action against technology companies that violate this law, under Florida\u2019s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. If social media platforms are found to have violated antitrust law, they will be restricted from contracting with any public entity. That \u201cantitrust violator\u201d blacklist imposes real consequences for Big Tech oligopolies\u2019 bottom line.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span>Big Tech is prohibited from de-platforming Floridian political candidates. The Florida Election Commission will impose fines of $250,000 per day on any social media company that de-platforms any candidate for statewide office, and $25,000 per day for de-platforming candidates for non-statewide offices. Any Floridian can block any candidate they don\u2019t want to hear from, and that is a right that belongs to each citizen \u2014 it\u2019s not for Big Tech companies to decide.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>\u201cThis session, we took action to ensure that \u2018We the People\u2019 \u2014 real Floridians across the Sunshine State \u2014 are guaranteed protection against the Silicon Valley elites,\u201d said Governor Ron DeSantis. \u201cMany in our state have experienced censorship and other tyrannical behavior firsthand in Cuba and Venezuela. If Big Tech censors enforce rules inconsistently, to discriminate in favor of the dominant Silicon Valley ideology, they will now be held accountable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The two important takeaways which make this legislative effort unique in the context of Big Tech are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span>The ability for users to take legal action against Big Tech platforms would represent a pivotal change in our current system, where companies enjoy almost complete projection from legal consequences under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span>The explicit prohibition of the de-platforming of political candidates draws a clear line in the sand in terms of the political influence Big Tech companies can have during elections.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><b>Why did the judge block the law?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle argued in his <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.flnd.371253\/gov.uscourts.flnd.371253.113.0_1.pdf\"><span>injunction<\/span><\/a><span> that preventing Big Tech companies from \u201cdeplatforming\u201d likely violated the First Amendment rights of these platforms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe legislation compels providers to host speech that violates their standards \u2014 speech they otherwise would not host \u2014 and forbids providers from speaking as they otherwise would,\u201d he wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cLike prior First Amendment restrictions, this is an instance of burning the house to roast a pig. \u2026 Balancing the exchange of ideas among private speakers is not a legitimate governmental interest. And even aside from the actual motivation for this legislation, it is plainly content-based and subject to strict scrutiny,\u201d Hinkle added sarcastically, according to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/tech\/tech-news\/federal-judge-puts-florida-deplatforming-law-hold-citing-first-amendme-rcna1288\"><span>NBC News<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Why does this matter?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>This specific debate is important because it represents the core of the ideological position DeSantis is presenting when it comes to the legislation of Big Tech. While Congress is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/antitrust-efforts-to-break-up-big-tech-pass-first-hurdle-house-committee-approves-move\"><span>focusing<\/span><\/a><span> on issues such as antitrust law and the \u201ccreation\u201d of competition, DeSantis\u2019 strategy is to focus on Big Tech\u2019s impact on freedom of speech \u2014 an issue of massive importance for many conservatives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Given that DeSantis plans to challenge the injunction, it then becomes important to understand that other legal minds have spoken out on this strategy. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/clarence-thomas-appears-to-endorse-outlawing-social-medias-censorship-of-conservatives-everything-you-need-to-know\"><span>Clarence Thomas<\/span><\/a><span>, for example, \u201cappeared to argue that social media companies like Facebook and Twitter should no longer be able to hide behind protections like the First Amendment and Section 230 in their bid to regulate certain forms of speech on their platforms\u201d in April.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Thomas hinted at two fundamental arguments that could be crucial elements of the legislative strategy for hindering Big Tech\u2019s efforts to suppress conservative speech online.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Firstly, the argument that companies like Twitter are \u201cpublic accommodations\u201d would provide legislators with effective tools to regulate their control of content \u2014 for better or for worse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Secondly, the explicit judicial acknowledgement that Section 230 is being leveraged by social media companies to provide \u201cimmunity\u201d for their \u201cbad-faith\u201d removal of third-party content provides a further indication that the alteration of Section 230 is a possibility in the near future.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>DeSantis\u2019 legislative efforts are squarely in line with this very same viewpoint.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ighaworth\">&nbsp;<i>@ighaworth<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>The views expressed in this piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\">&nbsp;<i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week, a Clinton-appointed federal judge blocked a Florida law which aimed to both protect free speech online and prevent \u201ca social media platform from willfully deplatforming a candidate.\u201dGovernor Ron &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2313990,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/GettyImages-1323562514-e1625242393929.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Ron DeSantis Goes To War Over Big Tech: Here\u2019s Why This Battle Matters","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-581978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/GettyImages-1323562514-e1625242393929.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Ron DeSantis Goes To War Over Big Tech: Here\u2019s Why This Battle Matters","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2313990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}