Florida’s Social Media Law Ruling Might Go To The Supreme Court
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A Florida law prohibiting social media companies from “deplatforming” political candidates will remain blocked—even after a similar law in Texas was allowed to take effect—as a federal appeals court sided Monday with a lower court’s ruling against the law and ruled it’s “substantially likely” the policy violates the First Amendment, in the video published on May 23, 2022, “Appeals Court Keeps Florida’s Social Media Censorship Law On Hold Due To 1st Amendment Concerns“, below:
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court order that blocked SB 7072, which levies fines on any social media platform that bans or suspends political candidates and publications – a law passed in response to Republicans’ fears that the social networks discriminate against conservatives. The appellate court ruled that social media companies like Facebook and Twitter are “private actors” whose actions are protected under the First Amendment, meaning that they can take whatever actions they see fit against users. It did allow one aspect of the law to take effect, which requires social media companies to let users who have been deplatformed to access their own data for at least 60 days, ruling this aspect did not violate the First Amendment and is not overly burdensome. Florida had argued the law did not violate the First Amendment because the tech companies are merely hosting users’ comments and should not be allowed to restrict their First Amendment-protected speech by banning them. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ office has not yet responded to a request for comment. The daily fine for social networks to have to pay under the law if they “willfully deplatorm” a candidate for statewide political office is $250,000. along with a $25,000 per day fine for other candidates. Florida first enacted its social media law in May of 2021, in response to widespread criticism on the right arguing that big tech companies “silence” conservatives, after platforms such as Facebook and Twitter banned President Donald Trump and other high-level Republican politicians. The law was widely expected to be subject to legal challenges, and a district court judge blocked the policy in July. Monday’s ruling (May 23, 2022) comes after a different federal appeals court reinstated a similar law in Texas earlier in May. The 5th Circuit, which is known for being one of the most conservative-leaning appeals courts in the country, reversed a lower court ruling that halted Texas’ social media law without comment, allowing the law to once again take effect while the litigation moves forward. Tech groups have asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on Texas’ social media law and decide whether or not it should stay in effect as the lawsuit against it moves forward. The court has not yet weighed in on the issue, and a ruling could come at any time. The Florida law initially included a provision that exempted companies with theme parks from being subject to the policy’s restrictions, which lawmakers said was crafted to shield Disney, one of the state’s biggest employers, from having to comply with the law. Florida has since turned on the company after Disney came out against the state’s HB 1557 law, known by the critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law and got rid of that provision in April.
A U.S. Appeals Court has blocked a Florida law that would ban social media sites from moderating political speech and even banning candidates, in the video published on May 24, 2022, “Why Florida’s social media law ruling might go to the Supreme Court“, below:
A Florida law intended to punish social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter is an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment, a federal appeals court ruled Monday, dealing a major victory to companies who had been accused by GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis of discriminating against conservative thought. A three-judge panel of the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously concluded that it was overreach for DeSantis and the Republican-led Florida Legislature to tell the social media companies how to conduct their work under the Constitution’s free speech guarantee, in the video published on May 24, 2022, “Appeals court: Florida law on social media unconstitutional“, below:
The ruling upholds a similar decision by a Florida federal judge on the 2021 law, in the video published on May 24, 2022, “Florida law on social media deemed unconstitutional“, below:
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com
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