Fla. Privacy, Social Media Bill Votes Coming Up

Florida legislators teed up possible Wednesday votes on privacy, social media and pole attachment bills. The Senate placed its privacy measure (SB-1734) on Wednesday’s special order calendar. House lawmakers amended the Senate’s social media bill (SB-7072) Tuesday and placed it on third and final reading. The House revised the Senate’s bill, passed by that chamber Monday (see 2104260061), to replace the definition of social media with the one from HB-7013. The Senate’s definition was narrower, and social media companies might find loopholes, said HB-7013 sponsor Rep. Blaise Ingoglia (R) in webcast floor debate. Democrats slammed the bill. “This bill is an unconstitutional mess,” said Rep. Omari Hardy. States “have no right to wade into these waters,” he said. “This is a vindictive piece of legislation.” Rep. Anna Eskamani disagreed with treating tech companies like utilities: “We don’t have to be on these platforms.” Florida has a right to regulate monopolies to protect its citizens, responded Ingoglia. Later Tuesday, the House teed up for final reading SB-1944, passed Monday by the Senate, to give the Public Service Commission authority to regulate pole attachments