Florida Senator Rick Scott (R) announced today that he was introducing the Chinese-Backed Media Accountability Act.
The bipartisan bill introduced with Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn (R) aims to create accountability for Communist China’s censorship of free speech. As well, it confronts what the lawmakers argue is China’s failure of treating American journalists fairly.
In a statement, the former Governor of Florida argued that “for years, the Communist government in China has tried to push its propaganda in America through state-owned media outlets, while refusing to treat American journalists in China fairly.”
Moreover, Scott explained that “General Secretary XI wants to punish anyone that disagrees with him and has built his regime on censorship of free speech,” asserting that “we can’t allow this to continue and we have to take action.”
He went on to detail that “the Chinese-Backed Media Accountability Act prevents new visas from going to media backed by the Communist Party of China until we know exactly how many Chinese propaganda outlets are operating in the United States.”
In turn, “it also creates reciprocity by making sure the number of Chinese-backed journalists in the United States is equal to the amount of independent American journalists allowed in China.”
Senator Scott concluded by warning that the United States must “stand up and say that this behavior by Communist China is unacceptable.”
The Florida lawmaker has been critical of China, slamming it for its mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic while also criticizing the Chinese government over its treatment of Hong Kong protestors. And, the bill comes after Democrats voted to block the Florida Senator's China's human rights violations resolution.
