Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is keeping his vow to fight Big Tech by authorizing his secretary of state to launch an investigation into Facebook for “alleged election interference.”
The Republican governor on Monday sent a letter to Secretary of State Laurel Lee directing the office “to open an investigation into Facebook’s alleged election interference through its whitelisting program.”
The letter follows a bombshell report by The Wall Street Journal uncovering how “tech giant put its thumb on the scale of numerous state and local races by exempting elite users from Facebook’s own rules,” according to the governor’s statement.
“It’s no secret that Big Tech censors have long enforced their own rules inconsistently,” DeSantis said. “If this new report is true, Facebook has violated Florida law to put its thumb on the scale of numerous state and local races.”
“Floridians deserve to know how much this corporate titan has influenced our elections. That is why I am directing Secretary Lee to use all legal means to uncover violations of Florida’s election laws,” he announced. “The thought of Facebook clandestinely manipulating elections is an affront to the basic principles of our republic. We the people have the right to choose our representatives, whether or not Silicon Valley approves.”
DeSantis said if allegations turn out to be true, Facebook must be held accountable.
“Floridians deserve to have faith that their elections are free from Big Tech interference, and corporations like Facebook deserve to be held accountable for actions that erode the legitimacy of our institutions,” the governor’s statement concluded.
The upcoming investigation comes after DeSantis signed a law earlier this year banning Big Tech companies from wielding their financial power to influence elections.