BROOKSVILLE, Fla. – Several bills signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday aim at cracking down on Chinese Communist Party influence in Florida.
The Republican governor was joined by Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson during a news conference at the American Aviation Flight Academy in Brooksville.
DeSantis signed into law SB 264, which prohibits the purchase of farmland in Florida by the CCP and other “foreign countries of concern,” and SB 846, which prohibits state universities and colleges from soliciting or accepting gifts from the CCP or other foreign countries of concern. The governor also signed SB 258, which prohibits apps like TikTok on government-issued devices at the state and local level.
“So it’s just not the state government. It’s also local government. And it also does the state universities and so if you tried to get on the Wi Fi or something with one of the CCP back to apps, it’s not going to let you go and do that,” DeSantis said. “And we think that that’s appropriate because we think whatever utility that these applications have is clearly outweighed by the benefit that the CCP gets from data mining and being able to to collect information.”
DeSantis said the state government takes “the security of this state very seriously,” but called on the federal government for more.
“So today Florida makes it very clear. We don’t want the CCP in the Sunshine State. We want to maintain this as the free state of Florida,” he said.
The news conference comes just days after the end of the Florida Legislative session, which established DeSantis as perhaps the most aggressive and accomplished conservative governor in the nation’s bitter culture wars — just as he prepares to enter the 2024 presidential contest as a top rival to former President Donald Trump.
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