Proposed Florida law is an attack on speech

Now, for a lot of proposed laws, the attention and the outrage generated are the point.

Take for example a bill introduced recently in the Florida Legislature that would force bloggers who write about elected officials to register with the state.

That would mean anyone who starts their own website and writes about state politics in Florida would have to register for permission to do so, as if they were lobbyists.

Indeed, the bill’s sponsor wants to treat everyone who writes about politics as if they were a lobbyist.

“Do you want to know the truth about the so-called ‘blogger’ bill?” Sen. Jason Brodeur wrote on Twitter. “It brings the current pay-to-play scheme to light and gives voters clarity as to who is influencing their elected officials, JUST LIKE how we treat lobbyists. It’s an electioneering issue, not a free speech issue.”

According to The Associated Press’ description, under Brodeur’s proposed bill, “Bloggers would have to disclose who paid them and how much, along with other information such as where the post is located online. They would be fined $25 per each day the report is late, up to a maximum of $2,500 for each report. The legislation would not apply to content on ‘the website of a newspaper or other similar publication.’”

The problems with such a bill are legion, including the attempted distinction between newspaper websites and blogs, something that is not always as clear as it once was and which puts the government in charge of deciding what is or isn’t a legitimate news source.

If such a bill became law, there is no reason to think legislators would stop there. They could attempt to force everyone who writes about politics on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to register, too. It’s worth noting that there is no meaningful difference between blogging and posting on Twitter apart from the maximum word count. When it first started, Twitter wasn’t known so much as a social media site but as a “micro-blogging” site.

When seen this way, it’s clear that people writing about politics is indeed, contrary to Brodeur’s claim, a free speech issue, and not simply an electioneering issue.

Some of the Republican old guard were quick to criticize Brodeur’s bill.

“The idea that bloggers criticizing a politician should register with the government is insane,” tweeted former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Sunday. “It is an embarrassment that it is a Republican state legislator in Florida who introduced a bill to that effect. He should withdraw it immediately.”

But Brodeur’s bill, while an extreme example, is not an isolated incident. Florida has become a laboratory for testing just how far Republicans can go in punishing speech they don’t like — often, perversely, under the guise of protecting free speech.

Examples range from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ successful effort to strip Walt Disney World of its self-governing powers in retaliation for Disney taking a political position DeSantis didn’t like, to another bill sponsored by Brodeur — this one with DeSantis’ support — that would make it easier to sue media for defamation.

This is power politics, pure and simple, and it’s a dangerous game — not just for free speech but potentially for Republicans as well: Never give your side powers you never want the other side to have.

And never introduce bills you think have no chance of becoming law just to score political points. You never know when such a bill might accidentally pass.