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Florida blogger registration bill never had DeSantis' support, governor says

The Associated Press says the governor's office was not aware of the blogger registration legislation until it was filed.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A new bill filed in the Florida Senate would require bloggers in Florida who get compensated for writing about elected state government officials or lawmakers to register with the state.

The bill would also make bloggers file a report every month they write a post discussing an elected official — and according to Gov. Ron DeSantis, he has never supported this bill.

Speaking during a news conference Tuesday after his State of the State address, the Florida governor said he has never been keen on the new bill filed, Business Insider reports. 

"That's not anything that I've ever supported," he said. "I don't support it, I've been very clear about what we are doing."

According to the Associated Press, the bill was filed by Republican Florida Sen. Jason Brodeur, not DeSantis and that the governor's office was not aware of the blogger registration legislation until it was filed.

"I see these people filing bills and then there’s articles with my face on the article saying that oh, bloggers are going to have to register for the state," DeSantis said. "And then it’s like, attributing it to me. And I’m like, OK, that’s not anything that I’ve ever supported."

The bill, which is labeled as SB 1316, focuses on "information dissemination," such as what and when information should be posted on publicly accessible websites and public county government websites. You can read the full text here

The middle portion of the bill focuses specifically on blogger registration and reporting. The bill defines "blog" as a website or webpage that hosts any blogger and is frequently updated with opinion, commentary or business content." The bill does not lump newspapers or "similar" publications in this definition. 

As for what constitutes as compensation, the bill says it includes "anything of value provided to a blogger in exchange for a blog post or series of blog posts. If not provided in currency, it must be the fair-market [sic] value of the item or service exchanged." 

"Elected state officer" includes the governor, lieutenant governor, cabinet officer or any member of the Florida Legislature. 

The proposal raised First Amendment concerns and the ire of GOP firebrand Newt Gingrich.

On Sunday, Gingrich took to Twitter to call the bill "insane."

“The idea that bloggers criticizing a politician should register with the government is insane," Gingrich wrote in his tweet. "It is an embarrassment that it is a Republican state legislator in Florida who introduced a bill to that effect. He should withdraw it immediately.” 

The bill gets further technical, stipulating the timeline a blogger must register with the state and when reports are due. It also lays out what exactly needs to be included in the report. Not abiding by the rules stipulated under this bill, should it become law, would result in a fine for the blogger. 

A blogger would be fined $25 every day a report is late, with a maximum fine of $2,500 for each report, the bill explained. 

The bill does allow bloggers to appeal fines, based on "reasonable" circumstances surrounding filing deadlines. 

10 Tampa Bay's Claire Farrow and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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