Much of Florida's law attempting to force online platforms to carry messages by candidates for office and host content by media outlets is an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment rights of the tech companies, a trio of federal judges unanimously ruled Monday.
S.B. 7072, passed by Florida Republican lawmakers and supported by Gov. Ron DeSantis, threatened online platforms with fines of up to $250,000 per day to any large online platform that refused or censored communications by candidates for office in Florida. The bill had a host of terrible provisions, but the mandate that companies like Facebook and Twitter transmit the messages of candidates for office got the most media attention. Tech groups sued to try to block the bill's implementation and quickly got an initial temporary injunction last June, ordered by U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle of the Northern District of Florida
