TAMPA, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis used social media Monday morning to send out a message about the fight over the power of social media companies to remove political posts.
“Florida passed protections three years ago for individuals that have been de-platformed or censored based on the content or viewpoint of their political speech," he said.
Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok, millions of Americans post all kinds of politically related content.
The question is, can those companies decide how to deal with spam, hate speech, and election misinformation?
“Generally, the law has shied away from facing businesses to speak in any particular manner," said Stetson Law Professor Catherine Cameron, a First Amendment law expert.
She said Florida and Texas are arguing that social media sites should be considered common carriers, businesses like railroads and airlines that are open to the general public and can be regulated by the government from discrimination.
“Social media companies say they are more like newspapers and book stores which have traditionally been treated as companies that do curate the information that they put out, and they are free from government-mandated speech," said Cameron.
We also talked with Texas attorney Jeremy Rosenthal, who said this debate is fascinating to watch.
“We so jealously guard our First Amendment rights that when the government gets involved, that’s when it gets really, really tricky. Where is the line they can draw, right?” he said.
Rosenthal said the Supreme Court has said in the past that social media platforms are the 21st-century version of the town square.
“That’s Facebook. That’s Twitter or X. That’s Instagram. That’s all these platforms where you can exchange ideas. And not just exchange ideas. But you can watch. You can learn. That’s also First Amendment activity too," he said.
Supreme Court Justices also questioned the possibility of Florida’s law being too broad, meaning it could cover other online sites like Amazon, Uber, and Etsy.
The Biden Administration is siding with those challenging the laws in Florida and Texas.
Lawyers for former President Trump are urging Florida to uphold the laws.
