A Clinton-appointed federal judge has blocked Florida’s anti-censorship law against Big Tech, arguing that the law threatens Silicon Valley’s editorial freedom.
Florida SB 7072, signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis in May, was scheduled to go into effect on July 1. It would have fined Big Tech companies such as Facebook every time they censored or banned conservatives on the platform.
On Wednesday evening, however, US District Court Judge Robert Hinkle issued an injunction blocking it.
BYPASS THE CENSORS
Sign up to get unfiltered news delivered straight to your inbox.
You can unsubscribe any time. By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use
Rt.com reports: Hinkle was responding to a lawsuit by two Silicon Valley trade associations, NetChoice LLC and Computer & Communications Industry Association, who argued that the law violated their First Amendment rights by “interfering with the providers’ editorial judgment, compelling speech, and prohibiting speech,” among other things.
“Balancing the exchange of ideas among private speakers is not a legitimate governmental interest,” Hinkle argued in the 31-page ruling, nor is “leveling the playing field” by promoting speech on one side of the issue or another.
He also agreed with the plaintiffs that the “actual motivation” for the law was hostility towards Big Tech’s “perceived liberal viewpoint,” citing public statements DeSantis made about the bill.
The judge went even further, arguing that social media platforms need to exercise “editorial judgment” much like the traditional media in order to curate their content, without which their sites would become “unacceptable” and “useless” to most users.
Platforms sometimes block users for “engaging in fraud, spreading a foreign government’s disinformation, inciting a riot or insurrection, providing false medical or public-health information, or attempting to entice minors for sexual encounters,” Hinkle wrote, listing the grounds Silicon Valley has invoked to ban thousands of people over the past several years – including then-President Donald Trump in January.
Social media companies have used Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to claim blanket immunity from content liability lawsuits, on grounds of being platforms and not publishers – a distinction Hinkle’s explanation seems to erase.
While DeSantis himself has not commented on the case – apparently focusing on the ongoing search and rescue operations at the collapsed condominium in Surfside – his office told the Daily Caller they are “disappointed” by the ruling and plan to “immediately” appeal the case to the Eleventh Circuit.
The appeals court has sided with DeSantis over Hinkle once before, in a 2020 case where the judge appointed by President Bill Clinton had ruled a law requiring convicted felons to pay fines, fees and restitution before getting their voting rights back was unconstitutional.
Sean Adl-Tabatabai
They hate the truth. They hate it Its their greatest threat .
Twitter and Facebook are offline. Permanently. And their replacements. As well. All those tech companies building up in the RTP with all their East India Trading company staff are shut. Everything goes back to normal with a keen eye on fail safing ALL institutions in America. There will be a great dissolutioning in the non-profit world. Including churches. Current think tanks will be a thing of the past. There will be no new deal. Only a reckoning in the above and the below. God willing.
How dumb can one be?