As one of the top contenders for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, Ron DeSantis is facing well-deserved scrutiny from the press — including The Intercept.
What we’ve found so far isn’t pretty. Taxpayer funds used for political stunts. Imprisoning local opponents. Donors rewarded with lucrative state contracts.
Now, DeSantis and his allies are aiming to shut down this journalistic vetting by making it dramatically easier for politicians to sue reporters and win.
Bills under consideration in the Florida Legislature would rewrite the state’s defamation laws and undermine basic reporting methods, making it impossible for reporters to do their jobs without exposing themselves to massive legal risk. These proposals are so radical that even Koch-funded groups and right-wing radio stations have told The Intercept they oppose them.
This is a very real threat to the fundamental rights of the free press. But our reporting on DeSantis has already uncovered multiple lines of inquiry that demand follow-up, and we’re not stopping now.
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The defamation legislation currently pending in the Florida Legislature is one of the most radical attacks on the free press that we’ve ever seen.
One provision removes a reporter’s privilege to not reveal the identities of confidential sources, effectively banning one of the most basic methods of journalism.
The First Amendment Foundation warned that these bills, if passed, would be “a death knell for American traditions of free speech.”
But no matter what, we’re not going to stop digging. We’re going back to Florida for additional reporting trips. And our legal team is ready to fight back and defend our rights all the way to the Supreme Court if needed.
