Florida bill requires bloggers to register prior to writing about DeSantis

Sen. Jason Brodeur (R-Lake Mary) of Florida wants bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and other members of the Florida executive cabinet or legislature to register with the state or face fines. Under Brodeur’s plan, Senate Bill 1316: Information Distribution, bloggers who write about public officials would have to register with the Florida Office of Legislative Services or the Commission on Ethics.

According to Brodeur’s bill, anyone who receives or will receive payment for writing “an article, story, or series of stories” about “the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, a Cabinet officer, or any member of the Legislature” must register with state offices within five days of the article’s publication.

If a blogger adds a new blog post, they must submit monthly reports to the appropriate state office by the tenth of each month. In months in which there is no new content, they would not be required to submit a report. Monthly reports must include, rounded to the nearest $10, the amount of compensation received for blog entries that “affect an elected member of the legislature” or “an officer of the executive branch.”

When the first post in a series or timeframe is published, the blogger must disclose the total amount of compensation to be received if he or she is being compensated for a series of articles or for a specific time period. Additional payments must then be reported. Failure to submit these disclosures or register with state authorities would result in daily fines of $2,500 per report, not per writer, if the proposed legislation is passed.

Each day that a report is late, a $25 fine is assessed. Similar to how lobbyists are required to disclose their activities and submit reports on fines imposed, the measure requires bloggers to file notices of their late submission of reports. Fines must be paid within 30 days of receiving a payment notice, unless an appeal is filed with the appropriate authorities.

When a fine is paid for an elected official, the funds must be deposited into the Legislative Lobbyist Registration Trust Fund. If a fine applies to both groups, it should be divided equally between the two trust funds. Under Brodeur’s proposal, newspapers and other publications would be expressly exempt from the blogger rule.

Along with the restrictions on bloggers, the bill repeals state statutes requiring the publication of judicial notices of sales on publicly accessible websites. It also specifies that a government agency may publish legally required advertisements and public notices on county websites even if the cost is not covered by an individual or recovered. Should the bill be approved, it would become effective immediately.