Standing in front of a large American flag at an event touting civics education "on topics including rights and responsibilities of citizens…and also understanding the philosophical underpinnings of the American republic," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) made a case for abrogating press freedom.
He supports Florida House Bill 991, DeSantis explained, in its plan to make it easier to sue journalists for defamation, perhaps most controversially by changing the legal status of anonymous sourcing. "If somebody is defamed…if [the journalist is] using anonymous sources, that can be a presumption that that was done with malice," DeSantis said Thursday. "I think what's happened is particularly corporate media outlets have relied on anonymous sources to smear people."
