DeSantis Directs Secretary Of State To Investigate Facebook For Election Interference

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) has directed Florida Secretary of State Laurel M. Lee to investigate Facebook for alleged election interference after recent reports suggesting that Facebook impacted the results of state and local elections.

“I hereby direct that your office immediately investigate this alleged election interference caused by Facebook through its whitelisting program – and any other previously undisclosed program within Facebook – in order to determine whether any violations of Florida’s election laws took place,” DeSantis said in a letter to Lee. “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.”

“The thought of technology companies clandestinely manipulating elections is an affront to the basic principles of our republic,” DeSantis added. “Floridians deserve to have faith that their elections are fair and free from intrusion by Big Tech monopolies like Facebook.”

DeSantis cited a recent report from the Wall Street Journal, which found that Facebook has a secret list of users that are not subject to Facebook’s content posting rules.

“According to a review of internal Facebook documents conducted by the Wall Street Journal, Facebook has created a shadow list of certain users who are immune from Facebook’s enforcement actions on posting content,” DeSantis wrote. “These elites – selected by Facebook behind closed doors – are able to post material without being subject to the opaque review process that normal users endure. This “whitelist” effectively creates two classes of speakers on Facebook’s platform: those who are privileged and those who are not.”

According to the Wall Street Journal report, “While the program included most government officials, it didn’t include all candidates for public office, at times effectively granting incumbents in elections an advantage over challengers. The discrepancy was most prevalent in state and local races, the documents show, and employees worried Facebook could be subject to accusations of favoritism.”

DeSantis’ office said in a press release, “If the Wall Street Journal report is accurate, Facebook has created a privileged class of speakers and has empowered them to manipulate our elections with impunity. Even more disturbing, these elite users on Facebook’s ‘whitelist’ were allegedly selected by the tech giant behind closed doors. The selection process, scope, and real-world influence of the whitelist is concealed from the public and known only to Facebook. If true, this process may have provided a benefit to incumbent elected politicians over their challengers in state and local elections.”