CITIZENS NEWS

Fla. Gov. DeSantis sends Big Tech huge message with announcement residents can SUE if they’re censored

By jdheyes // 2021-02-04

For years, conservatives have been complaining that the Big Tech oligarchs were censoring and banning them simply for their political views. The left-wing establishment media, beholden to the massive reach they achieve on the biggest social media platforms, dutifully pushed back with counter-claims that such accusations were baseless conspiracies, even in the face of irrefutable evidence. Well, the worm finally turned on liberals this past week when popular investor app Robinhood banned ‘the little guys’ from punishing a major hedge fund for shorting GameStop stock — an act so blatant that it actually drew bipartisan condemnation. And now, such actions could land the big tech companies in a lot of hot water, legally speaking — at least in Florida. There, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has introduced several measures that would allow residents to sue big tech platforms if they are censored or banned over otherwise legitimate speech, while imposing for massive daily fines if the platforms ban political candidates. Breitbart News provided more details: Mandatory opt-outs from big tech’s content filters, a solution to tech censorship first proposed by Breitbart News in 2018. A private right of action for Floridian citizens against tech companies that violate this condition. Fines of $100,000 per day levied on tech companies that suspend candidates for elected office in Florida from their platforms. Daily fines for any tech company “that uses their content and user-related algorithms to suppress or prioritize the access of any content related to a political candidate or cause on the ballot.” Greater transparency requirements. Disclosure requirements enforced by Florida’s election authorities for tech companies that favor one candidate over another. Power for the Florida attorney general to bring cases against tech companies that violate these conditions under the state’s Unfair and Deceptive Practices Act. “What began as a group of upstart companies from the west coast has since transformed into an industry of monopoly communications platforms that monitor, influence, and control the flow of information in our country and among our citizens, and they do this to an extent hitherto unimaginable," DeSantis said during a recent press conference in announcing the new actions. “These platforms have changed from neutral platforms that provided Americans with the freedom to speak to enforcers of preferred narratives. Consequently, these platforms have played an increasingly decisive role in elections, and have negatively impacted Americans who dissent from orthodoxies favored by the Big Tech cartel,” he added. According to the latest figures, four out of five Americans have social media accounts, and by far companies like Google, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube dominate all platforms. Conservative lawmakers in Florida applauded DeSantis’ actions. “Florida is taking back the virtual public square as a place where information and ideas can flow freely. We’re demanding transparency from the big tech giants," State House Speaker Chris Sprowls said in a statement. “The big tech companies have the duty to allow differing views on their public platforms. No one should be excluded. But let’s be clear: They are targeting conservatives," added Senate President Wilton Simpson according to local10, noting further that such targeting is a distinct form of political censorship. And here’s where DeSantis’ new measures have a decidedly major impact: The biggest American political figure on the stage today — former President Donald Trump — lives in Florida and he’s been deplatformed by all the major tech companies, which pretty much occurred simultaneously. Will the ex-president who really won the November election become the first Sunshine State litigant under ally DeSantis’ new rules? Chances are exceptional it will happen; and frankly, it should. Here’s another irony: Trump was the biggest marketer of Twitter in the company’s history, and it was free to founder Jack Dorsey; after kicking Trump off, Twitter stock tanked, angering investors. No word at this point if Robinhood prevented them from dumping their stock. See more reporting like this at Tyranny.news. Sources include: Local10.com TheDenverChannel.com NaturalNews.com

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