A governor has proposed a law that would challenge major tech giants such as Twitter and Facebook in a bid to prevent them from censoring lawmakers.
As Florida Governor Ron DeSantis explained when he announced new legislation on Tuesday, companies who censor or ban candidates running for office in The Sunshine State should be fined $100,000 per day.
The proposed law, also known as Transparency in Technology Act, would allegedly further protect social media users in the state by requiring companies “to notify users within 30 days if they are censored or deplatformed” while giving the users the right to “opt-out of post promoting and shadow banning algorithms.”
As part of the new act, social media giants would also be forced to stop regular changes to terms of service and obtain consent prior to desired changes.point 249 |
They would also be required to stop “arbitrarily censoring and deplatforming users” while making sure they “publish and consistently apply standards for censoring, deplatforming, and shadow banning.point 178 | ”point 181 | 1
“Today they may come after someone who looks like me. Tomorrow they may come after someone who looks like you,” DeSantis said as he vowed to take action to challenge the tech giants in Florida.
The governor went on to accuse the tech giants like Twitter and Facebook of changing from “neutral platforms to enforcers of preferred narratives.”
“As these companies have grown and their influence expanded, big tech has come to look more like big brother with each passing day,” he added.
“No group of people should exercise such power, especially not tech billionaires in Northern California.”
According to DeSantis, social media companies should be held accountable and should be more transparent when it comes to their standards for regulation and censorship of content.
“Big Tech companies have long since abdicated the protection of consumers for the pursuit of profit and we can’t allow Floridians’ privacy, voices, or livelihoods be violated or diminished,” he said.
“When it comes to elections, Big Tech shouldn’t be in the business of censoring or de-platforming candidates, but rather, voters should be able to make that choice independently.
“Floridians should be able to choose which content to consume and which to ignore, because I want to preserve Florida’s rich, diverse public discourse and not allow corporate-owned, content managing outlets to dominate our voices.
“With the help of our legislative partners, we’re going to stand together and support Floridians and put a stop to Big Tech’s practice of preying on, censoring and de-platforming consumers.”
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