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- Ron DeSantis weighed in on a bill that would require bloggers to register with the state.
- “That’s not anything that I’ve ever supported,” DeSantis said on Tuesday.
- He added that he doesn’t “control every single bill that has been filed or amendment.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says a proposed law that would require bloggers writing about him to register with the state isn’t something that he’s “ever supported.”
“That’s not anything that I’ve ever supported. I don’t support it, I’ve been very clear about what we are doing,” DeSantis said of the bill during a press conference on Tuesday.
The governor added that “every person in the legislature can file bills.”
“The Florida legislation, 120 of them in House and however many, the 40 in the Senate, they have independent agency to be able to do things,” DeSantis said. “Like, I don’t control every single bill that has been filed or amendment, so just as we go through this session, please understand that.”
DeSantis was referencing S.B. 1316, a bill introduced in the Florida Senate on February 28 by GOP lawmaker Jason Brodeur.
If passed, the bill would require any blogger who writes about DeSantis — and is paid for their work — to register with the state and file monthly reports. It would also apply to bloggers who write about Florida’s lieutenant governor, a cabinet officer, or any member of the Florida legislature.
Brodeur said in a Twitter video on March 5 that “voters have a right to know when somebody is being paid to advocate.”
“What is the difference between a paid blogger who writes about state government, or a paid lobbyist who advocates in state government?” Brodeur said.
The bill has received rebukes from civil rights organizations like the ACLU. Representatives for the ACLU’s Florida chapter told Insider the bill is “un-American to its core” and a violation of the First Amendment.
The proposed legislation has not yet been put to a vote. A spokesman for DeSantis told Insider on Friday that the governor’s communications office is “reviewing the bill.”
“As usual, the governor will consider the merits of a bill in final form if and when it passes the legislature,” the spokesman told Insider on Friday.
Brodeur and representatives for DeSantis did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.
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