Florida Republicans want bloggers who write about DeSantis to register with the state

‘It’s hard to imagine a proposal that would be more violative of the First Amendment. We don’t register journalists. People who write cannot be forced to register’

A Florida bill would require bloggers who write about Republican governor Ron DeSantis to register with the state.

The bill has been proposed by GOP state senator Jason Brodeur and would also apply to Mr DeSantis’s cabinet and state legislators.

It would require the bloggers to disclose who pays them and how much for posts on certain elected officials.

“If a blogger posts to a blog about an elected state officer and receives, or will receive, compensation for that post, the blogger must register” within five days, the bill states.

It defines “elected state officer” as “the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, a Cabinet officer, or any member of the Legislature.”

A failure to register would cost the blogger a fine of $25 per day, up to $2,500 per article, according to WFLA.

Mr Brodeur told the Florida Politics website that he viewed bloggers as “lobbyists who write instead of talk” and they should be treated the same way.

Mr DeSantis’s office said on Friday that the governor, who is expected to take on Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, would take a look at the proposed bill.

“As usual, the governor will consider the merits of a bill in final form if and when it passes the legislature,” press secretary, Bryan Griffin, told NBC News.

Ron Kuby, a First Amendment lawyer in New York, told NBC News that such a bill would be easily defeated in court.

“It’s hard to imagine a proposal that would be more violative of the First Amendment,” said Mr Kuby. “We don’t register journalists. People who write cannot be forced to register.”