New Budget Law Prevents State Agencies from Contracting with Ad Firms that Use Biased Monitoring Services
TALLAHASSEE, FL — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed into law an important provision that protects taxpayers from state-funded censorship as a key part of the state’s 2025–2026 budget.
The measure prevents state agencies from entering contracts with advertising agencies and marketing firms that use politically biased media monitoring services like NewsGuard, Ad Fontes and GDI.
These monitoring groups purport to be impartial, but consistently skew their ratings to target conservative and independent media from receiving advertising from major brands.
Lawmakers and the governor were clearly signaling with the law that state advertising buys are meant to inform the general public – and not filtered so conservative viewers won’t see them.
This victory follows growing concern about the role of government in policing news content and comes amid national scrutiny of content-rating services that impose ideological filters under the guise of fact-checking.
“This is a pivotal win for free speech and for the many Floridians who rely on independent voices to keep them informed,” said Christine Czernejewski, a spokesperson for The Independent Media Council.
“The state has sent a clear message: Florida will not bankroll censorship disguised as oversight.”
The provision was championed by lawmakers committed to protecting viewpoint diversity, transparency and fairness in public-sector media monitoring service partnerships.
The move also reflects mounting pushback against the use of public funds to support platforms or services that support censorship described as “fact checking” or “misinformation” prevention.
“This is just the beginning,” Czernejewski added. “Other states should follow Florida’s lead to ensure taxpayer dollars are not used to silence content creators who don’t agree with a far-left agenda.”
In 2023 the US Congress passed the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Bill, which includes a section that prevents the Pentagon from using advertising agencies that use so-called misinformation monitors in the placement of military recruitment ads.
About The IMC
The Independent Media Council (IMC) is a group of conservative and independent media outlets and aligned organizations that stand for free speech and a free press. The IMC believes the antidote to misinformation and disinformation is more speech, not censorship and works to protect the speech of all media outlets and content creators.
