For Floridians who prioritize civil liberties, rights, and basic democratic freedoms seriously, the last few years have been difficult. As regular readers know, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allied legislators have been quite relentless of late, targeting voting rights, reproductive rights, the right to peaceably protest, LGBTQ rights, as well as libraries and higher education in the Sunshine State.
This does not mean, however, that things can’t get worse. NBC News reported overnight:
A Republican state senator in Florida has introduced a bill that, if passed, would require bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis, his Cabinet or state legislators to register with the state. Sen. Jason Brodeur’s bill, titled “Information Dissemination,” would also require bloggers to disclose who’s paying them for their posts about certain elected officials and how much.
“If a blogger posts to a blog about an elected state officer and receives, or will receive, compensation for that post, the blogger must register” with the appropriate office within five days of the post, the legislation says.
As NBC News’ report added, the measure defines “elected state officer” as “the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, a Cabinet officer, or any member of the Legislature.”
Those who failed to comply could face thousands of dollars in state penalties.
If this approach sounds at all familiar, it might be because Vladimir Putin signed a similar measure — known as the “bloggers law” — in 2014, requiring online writers to register with the Russian government.
At this point, I know what some of you are thinking. “Sure, Steve, this bill exists, and it’s going to generate some attention,” you’re saying to your screen. “But as I’ve seen in several MaddowBlog posts over the years, it’s best not to take these absurd proposals too seriously because they don’t pass and become law.”
And if that is what you’re saying, you certainly have a point. Every…
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