On Tuesday, Florida Congressman Randy Fine (D) announced on his Twitter account, “This morning, I asked the Governor and Cabinet to divest the state from Amazon, Twitter, Apple, Google and Facebook. They can decide who to do business with. So do we.”
In his attached letter to the Florida governor and cabinet members, Rep. Feiner said.
“Dear Governor De Santis (R) and Cabinet members.
I am writing to you today to ask you to order the immediate divestment of equity and debt from any Florida holdings of the following companies: Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Apple and Alphabet (Google).”
Rep. Feiner said, “Last week’s attack on the U.S. Capitol was one of the saddest days of my life.”
“Thirty years ago, as a young assistant student serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, I worked at the desk that was used to block the main entrance to the House. It was at that desk that I learned what has always made America great; it was at that desk that I listened to great people – both liberal and conservative – debate war and peace, freedom and sacrifice.”
“I am deeply troubled to see the nation’s leading technology companies using the actions of these few as an excuse to silence tens of millions of good, patriotic Americans, millions of whom live in Florida.”
“Regardless of what people think of President Trump, he is still the duly elected president of the United States until noon on Jan. 20. If the president of the United States can be silenced by these companies, then anyone can (be silenced).”
“It is clear that Twitter and Facebook are engaging in one-sided viewpoint discrimination against conservatives. These companies are allowing real terrorists around the world to use their platforms to target America, Americans and our allies without the slightest hint of detection. And there is no dispute that Amazon, Apple and Google are actively working to eliminate any alternative channels where conservatives can speak freely.”
Rep. Feiner added “While I don’t deny that as private companies, they have the right to choose who they do business with, as a state, we also have the right to decide which companies we want to invest in. A year ago, we faced a similar problem. A large company, Audemars Piguet (Airbnb), chose to target certain Jewish Floridians whose property was no different than many non-Jewish Floridians around the world. We told Airbnb in a clear voice that if they boycotted them, we would do the same. And our actions ultimately helped convince them to change course.”
“Now it’s time to do it with these companies. Florida taxpayers should not be forced to do business with entities that censor them.
To be clear, if it was a liberal group that was being suppressed, you would have received this same letter. Because the power used on one group will inevitably backfire on another. Unfortunately, these technologists spend so much time learning how to write code that they learn so little history. In addition to this requirement, I will soon be introducing legislation that would prohibit any state or local government from doing any business with these companies, effective July 1 of this year. No Florida government may advertise on Facebook, Twitter or Google; no Florida government may use any Amazon service; no government agency may purchase Apple or Android devices. They can decide who they want to do business with. So do we.”
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