DeSantis-backed libel bill appears to fail in Florida Legislature
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TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis’ push to make it easier for prominent people to sue media outlets for defamation appears to have failed in the Legislature this year, one of the few things lawmakers didn’t deliver for him as they finish their session Friday.
The measure would have made sweeping changes to Florida’s libel and defamation laws, taking aim at the 1964 New York Times v. Sullivan Supreme Court decision. First Amendment advocates hail that landmark case as a cornerstone in protections for freedom of the press.
DeSantis said changes were needed to fight against what he dubbed “legacy media defamation practices.” He first publicly called for action during a Feb. 7 roundtable event, sitting in front of a screen that read “Speak Truth.”
“We’ve seen over the last generation legacy media outlets increasingly divorce themselves from the truth and instead try to elevate preferred narratives and partisan activism over reporting the facts,” DeSantis said.
But DeSantis’ proposal drew a backlash from conservative media outlets that feared they could be harmed financially.
Opponents said the legislation would stifle free speech, unleash a barrage of libel lawsuits and hurt publishers and even ordinary people posting on the internet.
“I am grateful the conservative and Christian broadcasters turned up against the bill,” said Bobby Block, executive director of the Florida First Amendment Foundation. “I think it made all the difference in the world. I am grateful the legislators decided to not rush this through and hopefully they’ll find that the bills will be just as bad next year.”
James Schwartzel, owner of the Fort Myers-based 92.5 FOX News radio station, wrote to lawmakers that passing the libel bill would be “the death of conservative talk throughout the state of Florida” because of the litigation it would unleash.
Central Florida GOP U.S. Rep. Cory Mills urged state lawmakers to scrap the libel bill, writing that it was “not representative of the free state of Florida.”
State Rep. Alex Andrade, who sponsored the legislation, called the bill “Journalism 101” and said it targets false information that destroys a person’s reputation. Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, sponsored a scaled-back version of the legislation in the Senate.
Andrade’s bill (HB 991) presumes information from anonymous sources to be false and removes protections that allow journalists to shield the identity of sources in lawsuits. It limits the definition of who would qualify as a public figure, making it easier for some people who become prominent to win a libel lawsuit.
The legislation deals with legal standards first outlined in the Times v. Sullivan decision, which created the “actual malice” threshold for libel lawsuits.
That case created a higher burden for public officials to win a libel case than ordinary people. Public officials must prove a statement was published with “actual knowledge that the statement is false or reckless disregard for the truth,” rather than just negligence.
The court later extended that standard to public figures, which include celebrities and others who have achieved “pervasive fame or notoriety.”
Florida’s proposal would limit the definition of a public figure to exclude people whose notoriety arises solely from defending themselves publicly against accusations; granting an interview on a specific topic; serving in public employment other than elected office or appointment by an elected official; or appearing in a video, image or statement uploaded on the internet that reaches a broad audience.
It also expands the definition of actual malice, such as specifying that a statement violates the standard if it is “fabricated by the defendant, is the product of his or her imagination, or is based wholly on an unverified anonymous report.”
Speaking in Jupiter this week, DeSantis reiterated his disdain for anonymous sources, which he said are being overused in the media often in a “race for clicks.”
“If somebody is going to go after you, you should, as a journalist, … demand they put their name to that. And if they’re not willing to put their name to the accusation, then you would never run with it, ever, if you cared about actual standards,” DeSantis said. “But I think those standards have been chucked aside.”
