Florida bill would require bloggers who write about governor to register with the state [More]
Assuming this isn’t a total distortion of what’s being proposed, the only question for Republican Florida Sen. Jason Brodeur is “Are you insane?”
Authorized Bloggers?
I read the bill. That’s correct, except that it writing about anyone in the executive branch, the legislature, and the ethics commission.
I’ve already given Brodeur my NSFW feedback on his bill.
Got a link? Assuming not, if you want I can post it on my WoG Placeholder blog and link to it here with a NSFW warning.
If you mean the bill, it’s here. If read charitably, it looks like an attempt to account for agents paid by dark money to submit postings that influence politics and elections. But the language is so broad it also covers bloggers paid for material by the blogs themselves (like Ammoland).
With “Republicans” like this, why do we have Democrats?
I think his intent (with which the road to hell is paved) might have been to try to make paid-by-the-post bloggers reveal their compensation and source of revenue. It says:
“(2) If a blogger posts to a blog about an elected state
161 officer and receives, or will receive, compensation for that
162 post, the blogger must register with the appropriate office, as
163 identified in paragraph (1)(f), within 5 days after the first
164 post by the blogger which mentions an elected state officer.”
Unfortunately since many bloggers host ads, there does not appear to be an exception for that.
In any case, it appears to be blatantly unconstitutional prior restraint and would be shot down upon its first challenge in court, if the bill ever passes.