Ron DeSantis and his 2024 anti-free speech platform for president

The Republican Party is developing its strategy for the next few elections after Democrats mopped the floor with them in 2020, a strategy that includes the initial vetting of potential candidates for president in 2024. One of the names making the rounds is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who, like the rest of the Republican Party, has embraced an anti-free speech platform.

Of course, this is bad news because, as we all know, Trumpism is forever. But it’s worse news when we remember that Trump and his Republican Party are enemies of the Constitution and our God-given rights.

Donald Trump and the GOP have been targeting the First Amendment, specifically free speech and a free press, ever since he first uttered the words “Fake News.”  But in these early days of the imaginary post-Trump era, Trumpist Republicans like Ron DeSantis are taking the attack up a notch by attacking so-called big tech.

Section 230 reform became 1984-styled doublespeak for Trump and the Republican Party, and they used it to wage war against the First Amendment in order to punish political enemies while simultaneously giving the state more control of the internet. Section 230 reform is a false-flag operation that has allowed the GOP to covertly push anti-free speech legislation that punishes big tech for being successful and creates a new “Fairness Doctrine” for the internet.

Governor Ron DeSantis, who is running for reelection in 2022 in a practice run for the 2024 presidential race, has fully embraced Trump’s attack on free speech — as we see from a lengthy press conference held earlier this week where he announced new state legislation designed to crack down on Big Tech for their alleged bias against conservatives.

“What began as a group of upstart technology companies from the west coast, has since transformed into an industry of monopoly communications platforms that monitor, influence, and control the flow of information in our country and among our citizens,” DeSantis said from the Cabinet Meeting Room. He also ranted about how ‘Big Tech’ is becoming more like ‘Big Brother’ with “each passing day.”

Somehow, I think DeSantis is unfamiliar with the concept of irony, since Orwell used “Big Brother” to describe a tyrannical big government.

DeSantis also said he wouldn’t let Big Tech “manipulate” news content and design algorithms to give an upper hand to the candidates of their choice.

“That’s why in Florida we’re gonna take aim at those companies and pull back the veil and make sure those guys don’t continue to find loopholes and grey areas to live above the law,” DeSantis said. “Under our proposal, if a technology company de-platforms a candidate for elected office in Florida during an election, that company will face a daily fine of $100,000 until the candidate’s access to the platform is restored.”

Here are a few of the details contained in the proposal made by the Trumpist Republican governor:

• Mandatory opt-outs from Big Tech’s content filters
• Fines of $100,000 per day for tech companies that suspend candidates for elected office in Florida
• Daily fines for any company that “uses their content and user-related algorithms to suppress or prioritize the access of any content related to a political candidate or cause on the ballot”
• Disclosure requirements enforced by Florida’s election authorities for tech companies that favor one candidate over another
• Power for the Florida attorney general to bring cases against tech companies that violate these conditions under the state’s Unfair and Deceptive Practices Act

Amazingly, the constitutional ignorance and/or sycophancy of Trump loyalists are drooling over Gov. Ron DeSantis’ attack on free speech, and his possible candidacy in 2024.

LifeNews.com expressed its support for DeSantis, claiming that that so-called “pro-life conservatives on social media” were thrilled at his unconstitutional proposal.

Glen Beck’s pro-Trump echo chamber loves DeSantis. Chris Pandolfo wrote for TheBlaze.com, “DeSantis … tore into Big Tech companies, calling them “enforcers of preferred narratives” whose economic interests are “not in the public interest” in a lengthy speech announcing new legislation to protect the privacy and free speech rights of Floridians from Silicon Valley.” (emphasis mine)

Did you notice the Orwellian doublespeak? DeSantis wants to pass a bunch of laws that violate privacy and free speech rights because it will help him protect privacy and free speech rights.

Not to be outdone, BlazeTV’s Steve Deace dedicated most of his three hours on the air (hour three for paid subscribers only) this past Wednesday sharing his list of “expert” reasons why Ron DeSantis should run in 2024. Of course, nearly every reason he gave had to do with the governor’s Trumpism and support of all things Trump — pointing that out makes me a member of the “orange man bad” cult.

DeSantis isn’t the only anti-free speech Trumpist considering a run in 2024. Sen. Josh Hawley — he was recently endorsed by Rush Limbaugh — is likely to run, and just like DeSantis, his campaign will attack big tech and be tied to Trumpism and constitutional ignorance.

Trump spent much of his presidency attacking the “Fake News” media, and he threatened to crush social media and other big tech companies for questioning his awesomeness, calling for platforms like Facebook and Twitter to be shut down for displeasing him.

In May, 2020, he began his attack on social media companies who fail to deliver content he approves with an Orwellian-sounding executive order entitled, “Preventing Online Censorship.” His order called for an “update” to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, labeled government regulation of our speech as “free speech,” and called any resistance to government messaging (i.e. propaganda) “censorship.”

Ron DeSantis and others like him represent the next generation of conservatives Trumpist Republicans, and they are willing to sacrifice liberty in their war against big tech companies if that’s what it takes to win in 2024.

Republicans used to believe in free speech and the free market, but as you can plainly see by the Trumpism of Ron DeSantis, Josh Hawley, and others like them, that’s simply no longer the case.

If we are to have any chance at defeating these conservative imposters threatening to consume liberty and our republic, we need to reject Washington’s collectivist politics — along with Trumpism and nationalism — and strictly adhere to the Constitution and the foundation laid out by the Founding Fathers.

That’s the only way to rein in the power of our out-of-control government. It’s the only way to see a return to states rights, respect for the three separate but equal branches of government, and the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness endowed to us by our Creator.

 

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David Leach is the owner of the Strident Conservative. He holds people of every political stripe accountable for their failure to uphold conservative values, and he promotes those values instead of political parties.

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