A provision in Florida’s fiscal 2026 budget that prohibits state agencies from using taxpayer dollars to contract with advertising and marketing companies that use “media reliability or bias monitor services” is a protection from state-funded censorship, according to the Independent Media Council. 

“This is a pivotal win for free speech and for the many Floridians who rely on independent voices to keep them informed,” council spokeswoman Christine Czernejewski commented in a statement to Newsmax. “The state has sent a clear message: Florida will not bankroll censorship disguised as oversight.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the measure into law this week to prohibit contracts with monitoring services such as NewsGuard, Ad Fontes, and the Global Disinformation Index, or other contractors “whose primary or principal function is to rate or rank news and information services for the factual accuracy of their content,” the law states. 

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