(WTXL) — Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that putting an end to "censoring conservative speech" on popular social media platforms is one of his top legislative issues this session.
Thursday, DeSantis spoke at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
"We need to really think deeply about if we are a disfavored class based on our principles, based on having conservative views, based on being a Christian, based on whatever you can say that is not favored in Silicon Valley,” DeSantis said in front of the conservative crowd.
He said it "bothered" him how Parler, a social media alternative favored by right-wing conservatives, was "decapitated" and shunned by tech giants like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon, following the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6. DeSantis contended that the company should have been able to compete in the free market.
“I think it’s probably the most important legislative issue that we’re going to have to get right this year and next year," DeSantis said.
Gov. DeSantis said that Florida would begin taking action on the issue.
"We're thinking through what we can do to provide people some protections," DeSantis said.
A Senate bill has been filed by Sen. Danny Burgess (R- Zephyrhills) to require website operators to provide electronic notice to the user within 30 days if their account is suspended or disabled and explain why action was taken against them.
Following his speech, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried released the following statement:
"This governor has overseen a failed pandemic response, a botched COVID-19 vaccine rollout, a broken unemployment system that left out-of-work Floridians waiting months, children and families going hungry, and racial injustice he refuses to acknowledge — and some shut-down app is his ‘most important legislative issue we’ve got to get right?’ That makes crystal clear what his priorities are — and it’s not Floridians."
To see the rest of DeSantis' comments on social media censorship, click the video below.
