DeSantis pushing election officials to investigate Facebook

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis directed his secretary of state to launch an investigation into a Facebook program that could have given incumbent politicians “an advantage over challengers” — but it’s unclear what state laws the social media giant could have violated.

The Facebook program, reported earlier this month by the Wall Street Journal, created a system where high profile users were either “whitelisted” — which effectively means they were exempt from Facebook guidelines over allowable content — or allowed to post content that violates the company’s rules pending review from its staff.

The program was put in place for Facebook “VIP” users such as well-known athletes, not just elected officials, but did include many government officials. Because not all politicians were included in the program, it gave what amounts to an incumbent advantage over challengers, according to internal Facebook documents reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.

DeSantis has made high profile fights with social media companies, disparagingly referred to as “Big Tech” in the conservative ecosystem, an ingrained part of his political DNA. That includes championing legislation during the 2021 Florida legislative session that, among other things, instituted fines of between $25,000 and $250,000 on social media companies that ban — or deplatformed — political candidates. The GOP-led Florida Legislature approved the social media legislation in the wake of Facebook and other social media companies removing former President Donald Trump from their platforms for pushing baseless claims of election fraud.

“Your office should use all legal means to uncover any such violations, including but not limited to, issuing subpoenas, conducting witness interviews, reviewing all available information and consulting with law enforcement,” DeSantis wrote in a letter to Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee.

DeSantis did not outline what specific election laws he thought were violated. Generally, potential election law violations are investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, not the Department of State, which serves as the state’s top election administrator.

The governor gave a blanket edict to Lee’s office, which did not return a request seeking comment, to “determine whether any violations of Florida’s election laws took place.”

The Wall Street Journal reported the program has since been scrapped, but the company did confirm to the newspaper that it was in place for at least portions of the 2020 election. Florida’s social media bill, however, was signed by DeSantis in May, so it did not yet exist during the 2020 elections.

"The cross check system was designed for an important reason: to create an additional step so we can accurately enforce policies on content that could require more understanding,” said Facebook spokesperson Drew Pusateri. “This could include activists raising awareness of instances of violence or journalists reporting from conflict zones. Facebook itself identified the issues with cross check and has been working to address them. We’ve made investments, built a dedicated team, and have been redesigning cross check to improve how the system operates.”

Since passage, the new social media law has also been temporarily blocked by a federal judge as an underlying legal challenge makes its way through the process.

When granting the preliminary injunction in May, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle signaled he though the measure was an overreach.

“The legislation now at issue was an effort to rein in social-media providers deemed too large and too liberal,” Hinkle wrote. “Balancing the exchange of ideas among private speakers is not a legitimate governmental interest.”

Christina Pushaw, a spokesperson for the governor, said the push to investigate Facebook has “nothing to do” with the specific law.

“We do not know where exactly this alleged electioneering occurred, and the scope is known only to Facebook,” she said. “That’s why Governor DeSantis ordered this investigation. If Facebook’s double standards amounted to interference in state and local races, then Floridians deserve to know the extent.”