Bill calls for bloggers to register with Florida's commission on ethics
MIAMI - A bill filed in the Florida Senate five days ago targets political bloggers and it has vocal critics.
Senate Bill 1316 lays out rules for bloggers writing about state executive officers or legislators. Anyone making money must register with the state, in some cases disclose compensation or face fines up to $2,500.
"I think a lot of it is problematic as it pertains to the first amendment," said David Weinstein a former state and federal prosecutor.
"The whole purse of it is beyond me," said veteran Broward County-based journalist Dan Christensen, Editor and Publisher of FloridaBulldog.org, a non-profit watchdog journalism website. "I am under the belief that it does pertain to us and that it is an attempt to, if not silence us, certainly monitor us on a much more official basis like a lobbyist. I think it's an attempt to intimidate and harass news media."
"It seems to me that the people behind this bill, they're more interest in who is paying for the statement to be made than the statements themselves," Weinstein said. "Why do they want to know? And the other way around: wouldn't it be nice if we knew who was funding the campaigns of these same people who are trying to find out?"
Weinstein sees a potential loophole in the bill that allows people who do not make money on blogs to write or post anything about state legislators or executive officers without registration or punishment.
So far, there has been no Senate discussion or vote on the bill.
