Deemed Unconstitutional, Florida Federal Judge Overturns Social Media Law UU

JAKARTA - A federal judge in Florida, USA, on Wednesday, June 30 blocked a social media law that would have fined companies for "kicking" politicians off their platforms.

District Judge Robert Hinkle of the North Florida District issued a preliminary order Wednesday to stop the law from taking effect on Thursday July 1, The Washington Post reported.

Hinkle issued the order because he believed the law would be deemed unconstitutional.

"Plaintiffs will likely win on the basis of their claim that this law violates the First Amendment," Hinkle wrote.

The tech trade group sued the state after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that would fine companies $250,000 (about $3.6 billion) per day for banning statewide politicians from their platforms and fines 25,000 per day. ) for other politicians.

NetChoice and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) are suing the state, saying the laws violate the First Amendment and free speech.

“Instead of preventing what he calls 'censorship', the Act does the exact opposite: it empowers government officials in Florida to oversee the protected editorial judgment of online businesses that the State does not like and whose political views want to be punished, said the lawyer from the company.

The bill made it past the GOP legislature and began after social media platforms banned former President Trump for his rhetoric. DeSantis defended the bill and said it was used to hold "Big Tech" to account.

“We are basically advancing the state consumer fraud theory. You know, they advertise certain things, they have certain terms of service. They didn't comply. It's a public scam. So we thought it would be enforced, but we are really anticipating litigation,” DeSantis said after the bill was passed.