Florida Republican Sen. Jason Brodeur has introduced new proposed legislation that aims to require bloggers who are compensated to write about lawmakers, including Gov. Ron DeSantis and his cabinet along with other state legislators, to register with the state.
The bill is called "Information Dissemination" and requires bloggers to be transparent about who pays them to write political posts.
The legislation's language states, "If a blogger posts to a blog about an elected state officer and receives, or will receive, compensation for that post, the blogger must register."
If the proposed bill passes, those who fail to register under the law could face a $25 per day fine, capping at $2,500.
Florida Politics defined the billas targeting what is known as "pay-to-play blog posts" where bloggers are paid to produce content about elected officials.
Some believe if passed into law, the legislation would likely be challenged in court citing First Amendment violations.
Sen. Brodeur said, "Paid bloggers are lobbyists who write instead of talk. They both are professional electioneers. If lobbyists have to register and report, why shouldn't paid bloggers?"
