Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis issued a directive on Wednesday prohibiting the Department of Financial Services from engaging with organizations involved in news source censorship or blacklisting activities.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis issued a directive on Wednesday instructing the Department of Financial Services to stop using or contracting with entities involved in news source censorship or blacklisting activities.
Patronis’ order prohibits all divisions within the Department of Financial Services from entering into or renewing contracts for marketing and public education campaigns with organizations that offer news source censorship or blacklisting services. It additionally bans these divisions from using or allowing contractors to use such services for advertisements and marketing placements.
The directive targets organizations like NewsGuard Technologies, the Global Disinformation Index, and Graphika Technologies. In a prepared statement, Patronis criticized the organizations for assigning subjective credibility ratings and misinformation labels to news sources, which he argues stem from political biases rather than factual inaccuracies. He expressed concern that these practices could lead to reduced advertising revenues for targeted news sources and undermine democratic principles by promoting debanking and deplatforming.
“This directive is aimed at holding censorship and blacklisting groups accountable,” he said. “This year we’ll be launching media campaigns on protecting the public from insurance fraud and educating Floridians on the services DFS provides, and we need maximum returns on those dollars. We don’t need so-called media-monitoring groups being middlemen and burning up cash needlessly when we’re trying to get the best returns on our investments. No taxpayer money from my agency will fund censorship on my watch, and no Florida business should suffer simply because it expresses views that these groups don’t like.”
In a press release, Patronis referenced a federal lawsuit by the Consortium for Independent Journalism, which cited a $750,000 NewsGuard contract with the U.S. Department of Defense and alleged adverse credibility ratings for news sources reporting on the Biden administration. NewsGuard has also been investigated by the U.S. House Oversight Committee for its relationships with federal agencies and its alleged failure to maintain a nonpartisan stance.
The directive also empowers the Chief Financial Officer and the Department’s Division of Accounting and Auditing to issue statements and memos to state agencies regarding claims for payments without the need for rulemaking, pursuant to Florida Statutes.