Florida Republicans are on a tear, and that doesn’t even include their new proposed abortion legislation. First, one of them filed a bill regarding defamation cases and public officials that is clearly intended to push the Supreme Court to overturn New York Times v. Sullivan. Now, the same guy is trying to force all bloggers who write about DeSantis and other state officials to register with the state and disclose any compensation received for writing the blog. This bill is so unconstitutional under prevailing interpretations of the First Amendment that it makes my head swim, which I suppose is the author’s point.
I’ll leave the legal analysis for another day. The first question I want to ask this guy is, do you think what happens in Florida will stay in Florida? Do you think Gavin Newsom likes criticism any better than DeSantis? Don’t you understand that, if you somehow prevail, your friends at Fox News and Breitbart will be in terrible trouble in blue states? Overturning prevailing First Amendment precedents won’t just impact blue people; it will severely damage liberal democracy in America, and impact the interests of dissenters everywhere, including red pundits in blue states.