Clay Calvert, director of the Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project and Brechner Eminent Scholar in Mass Communication at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, was quoted in “Why You Should Care About Florida’s New Social Media ‘Deplatforming’ Law” published on inc.com on May 18.

The article focuses on a new Florida bill that Gov. Ron DeSantis is poised to sign into law banning social media companies from “deplatforming” political candidates or media outlets. It could have implications for any U.S. business hosting its own online community and will likely face near-immediate legal challenges.

“This is really red-state Florida versus liberal Silicon Valley, California,” said Calvert. “There’s a lot of political symbolism in adopting this.”

Business advocates claim the law is an overreach into the affairs of private companies, so the town-square argument could help it more easily pass constitutional muster. However, most public town squares have a much smaller capacity than 100 million, so it’s unclear exactly where that floor could ultimately land for websites.

If the law is allowed to stand, other Republican-led states could be far more likely to adopt their own version of the law. “In that hypothetical future, it would make sense for businesses to lobby for new federal legislation to supersede state laws–if for no other reason than to simplify the regulatory process,” Calvert said.

Posted: May 18, 2021
Category: College News, Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project News
Tagged as: Clay Calvert, Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project