Ron DeSantis Accused Of Violating First Amendment With Defamation Bill As Donald Trump Rivalry Heats Up

A proposed Florida bill that would require bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis and legislators to register with the state faces a probable battle in the courts over First Amendment violations.

"Information Dissemination," the bill introduced by Republican State Sen. Jason Brodeur, would also require bloggers to disclose details about the endorsement of the post regarding the elected official, including payment details. Brodeur was endorsed by DeSantis and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody in his 2020 campaign.

The legislation says the blogger must tell the state the "individual or entity that compensated the blogger for the blog post" and "the amount of compensation received from the individual or entity."

Under the bill, an "elected state officer" is defined as "the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, a Cabinet officer, or any member of the Legislature." Bloggers who fail to register with the state would be fined $25 a day, with the penalty capped at $2,500 per post.

Brodeur previously said, "Paid bloggers are lobbyists who write instead of talk. They both are professional electioneers. If lobbyists have to register and report, why shouldn't paid bloggers?"

On Friday, DeSantis' office stated it was in the process of reviewing the bill. "As usual, the governor will consider the merits of a bill in final form if and when it passes the legislature," Press Secretary Bryan Griffin said in a statement.

In a Twitter post, Florida's American Civil Liberties Union called the bill "antidemocratic" and "dangerous" as well as "an affront to free speech protections guaranteed by the First Amendment and established jurisprudence by the U.S. Supreme Court."

The bill would likely have to overcome legal hurdles to be implemented.

"It's hard to imagine a proposal that would be more violative of the First Amendment," New York-based attorney Ron Kuby told NBC News. "We don't register journalists. People who write cannot be forced to register."

The controversial bill comes amid rising tensions between DeSantis and former president Donald Trump over the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential race and after years of contention between Trump and the media, which Trump frequently called "the enemy of the people."

On Saturday, Trump spoke to a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland, where he promised to save the country if he returns to the White House.

"We will beat the Democrats, we will rout the fake news media, we will expose and appropriately deal with the RINOs (Republicans in Name Only). We will evict Joe Biden from the White House, and we will liberate America from these villains and scoundrels once and for all," Trump said.

DeSantis has not announced plans for a 2024 presidential run, but on Sunday he alluded to delivering policy goals that Trump struggled with during his time in the White House.

"I can tell you in four years, you didn't see our administration leaking like a sieve, you didn't see a lot of drama or palace intrigue," DeSantis said during an appearance at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

"What you saw was surgical, precision execution. Day after day after day. And because we did that, we beat the left day after day after day."

Trump faces other challenges in his White House bid. Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, are among some of the names who have already launched indirect attacks against the former president that could threaten his nomination in 2024. Haley is one of three Republicans who have launched a White House since Trump announced his candidacy.