In the “free state of Florida,” Gov. DeSantis and Republican legislators want to gut free speech.
That kind of blatant hypocrisy — you’re free to do what you want as long as I agree with it — has been nearly normalized, first by Donald Trump (the self-proclaimed law-and-order president who incited the attack on the U.S. Capitol) and now by DeSantis in Florida, who has made hypocrisy a central feature of his administration.
The proposal being considered by the state Legislature would stifle freedom of speech in Florida by attacking defamation laws. But it wouldn’t harm just the faceless “legacy media” that the governor loves to hate. It would also have a chilling effect on individuals and, yes, even conservative media.
