Newt Gingrich slams Florida Republicans for blogger registration bill: 'Insane'

Ryan King

March 06, 08:33 AM March 06, 08:33 AM

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) blasted a Florida bill that would require paid bloggers covering Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), legislative members, and other top officials to register with the state.

Under the "Information Dissemination" proposed by state Sen. Jason Brodeur, a Republican, bloggers covering certain Florida officials would be mandated to disclose who is paying them. Gingrich panned the legislation as "insane" and urged Brodeur to withdraw the bill.

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"The idea that bloggers criticizing a politician should register with the government is insane. 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," Gingrich tweeted.

Brodeur's legislation triggered an outpouring of controversy, particularly from Democrats and free speech advocates.

“Paid bloggers are lobbyists who write instead of talk. They both are professional electioneers. If lobbyists have to register and report, why shouldn’t paid bloggers," he told Florida Politics.

Bloggers who are paid to post online about elected state officials would be required to register with the Florida Office of Legislative Services or the Commission on Ethics under Brodeur's proposal. The same requirement would not extend to the websites of newspapers, according to the bill.

Failure to register could result in fines of $25 a day with a cap of $2,500 per post.

Blogs are described as "a website or webpage that hosts any bloggers and is frequently updated with opinion, commentary, or business content" in the bill.

Florida's legislature is set to convene later this week. Brodeur has rejected criticisms that his proposal tramples free speech.

"It brings the current pay-to-play scheme to light and gives voters clarity as to who is influencing their elected officials, JUST LIKE how we treat lobbyists. It’s an electioneering issue, not a free speech issue," he tweeted.