While Florida has been the hotspot for all things COVID-19, Big Tech is still a key priority of Florida Republicans, especially Gov. Ron DeSantis. Now, Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has launched an official investigation of Facebook over alleged election interference.
Republican voters across the country have blamed election fraud or cheating as the reason for a Biden victory in the 2020 election, and accused social media outlets of playing role in last year's election outcome.
Governor DeSantis has already cracked down on Big Tech before, signing SB 7072 to combat censorship.
The governor previously stated the importance of monitoring these tech conglomerates, saying that "Many in our state have experienced censorship and other tyrannical behavior firsthand in Cuba and Venezuela. If Big Tech censors enforce rules inconsistently, to discriminate in favor of the dominant Silicon Valley ideology, they will now be held accountable."
The reason for DeSantis' current authorization seems to pertain to Big Tech's alleged "shadow list" of certain users who are "immune" to Facebook's censorship rules, according to documents provided by the Wall Street Journal.
According to the WSJ, this double standard, "effectively grant[ed] incumbents in elections an advantage over challengers," giving a literal meaning to what political scientists call "Incumbency advantage.":
DeSantis has since taken to his Twitter to announce the now launched investigation, claiming he has authorized "the Florida Department of State to open an investigation into Facebook’s alleged election interference through its whitelisting program," adding, "Floridians deserve to know how much Big Tech has influenced our elections.":
I am authorizing @FLSecofState and the Florida Department of State to open an investigation into Facebook’s alleged election interference through its whitelisting program.
Floridians deserve to know how much Big Tech has influenced our elections. pic.twitter.com/rmGmZ6BK6T— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) September 27, 2021
While Democrats in the Florida legislature have also shown concerns about Big Tech before, DeSantis seems to be adopting a rhetoric that many would not sign onto. This investigation seems to pertain to Facebook's correlation with politically concerned outcomes.
