An idiot in the Florida state legislature has introduced a bill that would require the registration of bloggers who are critical of the state’s government. As the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression noted in a press release:
If enacted, the legislation would require anyone other than a newspaper journalist who writes online about Florida’s government leaders — its governor, lieutenant governor, cabinet officer, or any member of the state legislature — to register with the state if they receive any “compensation” for the post. And they must do so within five days — and then file a monthly report with state regulators if they write about Florida officials that month. Those who violate the law risk up to $2,500 in fines per report.
This bill is an affront to the First Amendment and our national commitment to freedom of the press.
FIRE is, of course, right. The bill is an unconstitutional, moronic disgrace, and the guy who wrote it, Senator Jason Brodeur of Seminole County, is an embarrassment to the GOP. Thankfully, though, the number of people in Florida’s legislature who are interested in this bill is . . . well, is Senator Jason Brodeur of Seminole County. Brodeur wrote the bill. Brodeur sponsored the bill. And that’s as far as it’s got. It’s not going to pass. It’s not going to be signed. It’s not even going to be considered. It is, as the kids say, not really “a thing.”
There is, of course, nothing wrong with people pointing out how terrible Brodeur’s idea is; vigilance in this area is paramount. But most of the coverage I’ve seen would have benefitted from the prominent acknowledgment that this is one of those “crazy state legislator” stories we read about up and down the country each year, rather than an actual threat to the First Amendment (or to Florida’s state constitution, which holds that “no law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech or of the press”). In this session, there is also a Florida legislator who wants to make it a crime for drivers to allow their dogs to stick their heads out of the window. That, too, is stupid. She, too, is an embarrassment — this time to the Democrats. And it, too, is not going to happen.
Which is nice.