Florida Republicans are attempting to pass HR 991, officially titled “Defamation, False Light and Unauthorized Publication of Name or Likeness”, which would make it easier to sue journalists for defamation by reducing the requirement to prove actual malice. This requirement has protected journalists and their First Amendment rights since the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1964 decision in New York Times v. Sullivan.

Proposed by Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, it would decimate the journalists’ privilege to hold sources in confidentiality for stories that are of importance to the public. The bill would presume that any statement made by an anonymous source is false, eliminating journalists’ watchdog privilege.

Read more in a full article featured on WUFT/PBS.

Read the bill and track its progress here.