The work-around is to use the 5-Eyes strategy[1], instead of my friend in Florida reporting about DeSantis and his evils, I can do so quite safely from Indiana, in turn my friend can write about the idiots in Indianapolis on my behalf.
The 1st Amendment might not apply within the state of Florida, but it certainly does across state lines. (For now)
The bill is a campaign-finance tweak. It applies only to those getting paid to smear (or praise) an elected official. Nothing new. There are required ‘This ad paid for by…’ blurbs on other forms of media… this expends it to blogs.
I’m not in favor of any campaign finance laws. But, there’s nothing novel about this bill. As a practical matter, it’s a difficult law to write and difficult to enforce. Maybe TOO difficult to avoid 1st am stuff. But, the concept is hardly new.
There appears to be a big business opportunity to establish news agencies or blogs outside any country's borders. And this can be done for all 195 countries.
E.g. A news agency based in Indonesia can be hired to publish truth about DeSantis and his cronies. Likewise, someone in the US can be hired to publish truth about cronies in Indonesia.
It only requires them to register if they have taken Federal funding to promote certain stories, if you read the actual bill. Domestic propaganda is now legal and an unknown but large number of journalists are disseminating Federal government messaging, some of which apparently Florida has found to be against the interests of their state. This will force these propagandists to disclose if they're taking Federal money to promote Federal messaging to the public, within the state of Florida.
It's a good thing. We will finally get to see who works at Pravda.
The 1st Amendment might not apply within the state of Florida, but it certainly does across state lines. (For now)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes#Domestic_espionage_s...