Both houses of Florida's legislature have passed their social media bill. But with a very specific exception.
"doesn't apply to a company that owns and operates a theme park or entertainment complex"
Don't mess with the mouse.
And what's hilarious is how it's so just goddamn brazen. LIke, wtf are you even doing mentioning theme parks in a bill about online speech?
I agree that it is bullshit to mention theme parks in a bill about online speech HOWEVER. I understand why they did that, because so long as Disney doesn't feel like their bottom line is in danger and Disney desperately wants to get their parks back up and running again after they have been a multi-billion dollar drain on them for the last year and a half, if the Disney executives felt that this new bill could stop them from reopening then they would have a slew of lawyers doing everything they can to stop this bill. And Disney lawyers have a history of getting what they want.
So giving an exemption at this time is to me a tactic to make sure that particular foe stays out of the fight when this bill is already going to get Silicon Valley's panties in a wad and it doesn't benefit drag Disney into the mix at this time.
One of the co-sponsors said that it’s to make sure Disney Plus isn’t effected, which makes no sense to me. Surely a streaming service is not a social media site, and if the law is written so broadly that it would apply, it needs to be rewritten.
It should have no bearing on physical theme parks, either.
Never underestimate the power of a bored lawyer.