Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and other media platforms are not allowed to bar candidates for political office in the state of Florida for more than 14 days.
This provides for a law of the state that the Republican Governor Ron DeSantis made legally binding yesterday with his signature.
DeSantis praised the law on Twitter as a protection of its citizens from the "censorship" by Silicon Valley corporations and against their totalitarian tendencies.
Winand von Petersdorff-Campen
Business correspondent in Washington.
Follow I follow
"You can tell that something is going wrong when big tech platforms exclude the President of the United States, but let Ayatollah Khamenei talk about killing Jews - that's wrong!" Said DeSantis. Donald Trump had been blocked by social media platforms because they believed he had fueled the violent entry of protesters into the Capitol in Washington. Republicans accuse the platform operators of suppressing primarily conservative voices.
If social media bans a candidate for political office in Florida for more than 14 days, they face a fine of $ 250,000 for each additional day.
The law also prohibits Twitter and Facebook from suppressing journalistic work by other media.
Finally, citizens who feel they've been treated unfairly can sue the platforms for $ 100,000 in damages.
The media company must clearly show how the content is being moderated and where it is drawing boundaries.
What is open
Legal experts expect successful constitutional suits against the law.
It remains to be seen whether the law restricts Twitter and Co.'s right to freedom of expression, which companies in the United States also claim.
A central question is whether the operators should be treated more like newspaper publishers or like telephone or cable companies.
Newspapers are given the right to suppress opinion polls.
The Miami Herald had successfully sued against having to reprint a replica of a critical politician's assessment.
The cable company Turner, however, was obliged to transmit certain unpleasant channels.
The law could also conflict with a federal law that protects internet companies from liability for content that third parties have published on the platforms.
The high legal challenges lead legal experts to comment that the law primarily serves political marketing. Rick DeSantis is toying himself with becoming president. He has close ties to Donald Trump, who lives in Florida and has a huge influence on the Republican grassroots. Other republican-ruled states are preparing similar laws.