Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis shredded a reporter Monday who asked him whether he signed a Big Tech anti-censorship bill because of his relationship with former President Donald Trump.
“The bill is for everyday Floridians; this is what we’ve said,” DeSantis said, pivoting to the hypocrisy of bans on Trump while permitting the leader of Iran to tweet about “about killing Jews.”
“But I do think there’s another issue that has been brought to bear: When you de-platform the president of the United States but you let Ayatollah Khamenei talk about killing Jews, that is wrong,” DeSantis said to thunderous applause in approval from the crowd at his signing of a bill to protect Floridians from Big Tech censorship.
Twitter has come under fire for not censoring Khamenei after he called Zionists “filthy,” while condemning the United Arab Emirates, among other statements he made on the platform.
Khamenei tweeted last September:
“The nation of Palestine is under various, severe pressures. Then, the UAE acts in agreement with the Israelis & filthy Zionist agents of the U.S. —such as the Jewish member of Trump’s family— with utmost cruelty against the interests of the World of Islam. #UAEStabsMuslims”
While others were quick to call for censorship, Twitter chose not to censor the leader of Iran.
A Twitter representative said, when political leaders’ tweets are about “comments on political issues of the day” or “foreign policy saber-rattling on military and economic issues,” they are “generally not in violation of our Twitter rules.”
This anti-Semitism from a world leader would seem to violate the Twitter guidelines, tweeted Jake Tapper, CNN anchor.
Last year, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called for an investigation into Twitter in a letter to the Justice and Treasury departments for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran by allowing Khamenei’s tweets to stay up without any kind of censor. Cruz had first sent a letter to the social media giant requesting it comply with U.S. law and stop providing services to the accounts.
“Twitter sent a letter back saying their company policy was to allow as much discussion as possible, and they apparently believe they are exempt from the criminal laws of this country,” Cruz told Fox Business’ “Varney & Co.” in 2020. “So, today, I asked the Department of Justice to open an investigation. Those sanction laws are designed to stop U.S. companies from facilitating Iranian terror.”
The Florida bill DeSantis signed is set to “hold Big Tech accountable by driving transparency and safeguarding Floridians ability to access and participate in online platforms.”
Source: Newmax
