Blogger invoice one other instance of foolish legislative concepts | Editorials

Sen. Jason Brodeur, the invoice’s sponsor, argues that the registration is important to forestall pretend information and promote transparency. Nonetheless, it’s onerous to imagine that registering bloggers would obtain that aim. Quite the opposite, it could stifle free speech and discourage unbiased journalism. Bloggers who worry fines or authorized motion could select to self-censor or keep away from protecting sure subjects altogether, thus limiting the general public’s entry to info.

Furthermore, the invoice’s scope is so broad that it could embody nearly any blogger who writes about Florida politics. Based on the invoice’s language, anybody who writes “an article, a narrative, or a collection of tales” concerning the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, a Cupboard officer, or any member of the Legislature and receives or will obtain fee for doing so, should register with state places of work inside 5 days after the publication of an article that mentions an elected state official.

This requirement would cowl not solely skilled bloggers but in addition citizen journalists, activists, and bloggers who earn any type of compensation, together with promoting income, affiliate commissions, or crowdfunding.

The invoice additionally imposes cumbersome reporting necessities on registered bloggers, who must submit month-to-month studies on the tenth of every month disclosing the quantity of compensation acquired for his or her protection. Failure to file these disclosures or register with state officers would end in each day fines, with a most quantity of $2,500 per report, not per author. In different phrases, a blogger who publishes a number of articles in a month would face fines for every article, not simply as soon as. The fines can be deposited into the Legislative Lobbyist Registration Belief Fund or the Govt Department Foyer Registration Belief Fund, relying with regards to the protection.

The invoice’s exceptions for newspapers or comparable publications make little sense within the digital age, the place many bloggers and unbiased journalists function professional-looking web sites. The invoice’s concentrate on compensation additionally raises questions on how it could apply to nonprofit or volunteer-run blogs, which can not generate income however nonetheless present helpful info and evaluation.

The First Modification protects the liberty of speech and the press, together with the fitting to criticize and scrutinize authorities officers. The Supreme Court docket has repeatedly affirmed that bloggers and on-line journalists take pleasure in the identical First Modification protections as conventional media. Forcing bloggers to register with the state or face fines would create a chilling impact on free speech and undermine the general public’s proper to know.

If Sen. Brodeur needs to advertise transparency and accountability in authorities, he ought to concentrate on strengthening present legal guidelines and establishments that shield whistleblowers, promote open data, and examine corruption. Concentrating on bloggers and citizen journalists is a misguided and unconstitutional strategy that will hurt the very rules of democracy and free speech that the Florida Legislature ought to uphold.

Senate Invoice 1316 is simply one other instance of foolish laws going across the Florida Legislature this yr. The Florida Legislature ought to reject this invoice and as a substitute concentrate on selling transparency and accountability in authorities by means of professional means.