© interreviewed.comFacebook • Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
Florida governor Ron DeSantis ordered his secretary of state to investigate Facebook for "alleged election interference."
The move comes in the wake of a report in
The Wall Street Journal, showing that
"the tech giant put its thumb on the scale of numerous state and local races by exempting elite users from Facebook's own rules," according to a
Monday statement from DeSantis.
In a
Sept. 27 letter, DeSantis directed Florida Secretary of State Laurel M. Lee to investigate Facebook's alleged failures to comply with Florida's election laws. The alleged violations create a "privileged class of speakers" who are empowered to exert influence on elections. DeSantis, citing the
Wall Street Journal report, wrote:
"While most people are subject to arbitrary censorship at the whims of so-called fact-checkers, Facebook grants select users the freedom to disregard the platform's own community standards without the threat of enforcement action."
If the report is true, DeSantis said, Facebook violated Florida law, and must be held accountable.Facebook did not immediately respond to inquiries from Just the News.
Comment: It appears a battle is getting underway to address Big Tech's role and responsibility for manipulating elections in many states,
but in particular, Florida:
The primary reporting on XCheck appeared on Sept. 13 as a part of a Journal exposé on the practices of the world's largest social media platform. Here's the place it probably collides with Florida's election legal guidelines, the Journal's Jeff Horwitz reported:
"Whereas this system included most authorities officers, it didn't embody all candidates for public workplace, at instances successfully granting incumbents in elections a bonus over challengers. The discrepancy was most prevalent in state and native races, the paperwork present, and workers frightened Fb could possibly be topic to accusations of favoritism."
DeSantis mentioned in a news release, Monday:
"If this new report is true, Facebook has violated Florida law to put its thumb on the scale of numerous state and local races. Floridians deserve to know how much this corporate titan has influenced our elections. That is why I am directing Secretary Lee to use all legal means to uncover violations of Florida's election laws. The thought of Facebook clandestinely manipulating elections is an affront to the basic principles of our republic. We the people have the right to choose our representatives, whether or not Silicon Valley approves."
In a letter to Lee, DeSantis approved the secretary of state to:
"use all authorized means to uncover any such violations, including but not limited to, issuing subpoenas, conducting witness interviews, reviewing all obtainable information and consulting with law enforcement."
"The thought of technology companies clandestinely manipulating elections is an affront to the basic principals of our republic. Floridians deserve to have faith that their elections are fair and free from intrusion by Big Tech monopolies like Facebook."
Comment: It appears a battle is getting underway to address Big Tech's role and responsibility for manipulating elections in many states, but in particular, Florida: