Orlando Sentinel
By Steven Lemongello
February 21, 2024
Despite growing pressure from conservatives, the Florida House is poised to take up a bill that would make it easier for public officials to win defamation lawsuits against traditional and online news organizations.
The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved the measure (HB 757), its last stop before the floor. A similar measure also is moving in the Senate.
Stephen Miller, an ultraconservative former Trump White House adviser, wrote Wednesday on social media that the bill would “mean conservative influencers, podcasters and alternative media companies based in Florida are going to get WRECKED solely because they are conservative. And I mean WRECKED. Reject this law before it’s too late.”
Miller was the latest conservative voice to oppose the bill, sponsored by state Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola.
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Naples, the group Americans for Prosperity, the National Religious Broadcasters Association, and the New York Post editorial board have also gone on record against it.
“Stephen Miller’s comments today, I think he’s exactly right,” said Bobby Block, executive director of Florida’s First Amendment Foundation, which also opposes the measure. “He’s giving voice to what a lot of conservatives are afraid of. But how that might impact the fate of the legislation is just unclear.”