'Florida goes full fascist': Ron DeSantis sparks furious backlash with ‘authoritarian’ campus political surveys
Ron DeSantis speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, Gage Skidmore
June 23, 2021 | 12:09PM ETPush NotificationGov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation requiring Florida students, faculty, and staff to register their political views in surveys in an effort to promote "intellectual diversity" at colleges and universities, and the measure set off backlash across social media.
Critics decried the law, which DeSantis claims will promote freedom of speech, as a "thoroughly Orwellian" attempt to gain control over academic debate at institutions of higher learning.
Well, this is thoroughly Orwellian. 😳 Faculty and students of Florida, you know what to do! Freep Mini-Trump's stup… https://t.co/N2nEE5UzuM— Betty Cracker 🐊 (@Betty Cracker 🐊) 1624454881
DeSantis wants to survey university students and staff, with the threat of budget cuts if he doesn't get his way???… https://t.co/IWfcM8nGhI— Witty Librarian For Ukraine (@Witty Librarian For Ukraine) 1624455089
Our new authoritarian overlords like @RonDeSantisFL (who is a smart version of Trump) are coming for the universiti… https://t.co/Wupp1WG0Y9— Rachel Bitecofer 📈🔭🇺🇲🇺🇦 (@Rachel Bitecofer 📈🔭🇺🇲🇺🇦) 1624450474
Florida is becoming too dangerous full of right wing extremists. Floridians are shooting each other every day whil… https://t.co/bTj5qSkwJq— Natives&ImmigrantsAreUS (@Natives&ImmigrantsAreUS) 1624454706
Fascist authoritarianism takes another step forward in Florida.https://twitter.com/GunnyJ/status/1407691433285410827\u00a0\u2026— Rusty Cannon (@Rusty Cannon) 1624454946
The Florida education “intellectual diversity,” survey is one question - it’s a picture of Reagan with the caption… https://t.co/a9WS5fdp0h— Eldritch Millennial (@Eldritch Millennial) 1624451688
Since the survey is not anonymous and since results will not be aggregated without identifying information, it should be obvious (even to a Florida court) that the information gathered will be used only to discriminate against faculty/staff and students who are not Republicans.— Mary Buggie-Hunt \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Mary Buggie-Hunt \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1624454430
Also if you don\u2019t think they\u2019ll sell your survey answers connected to your ID to the highest bidders, well, perhaps Florida is for you after all.— Heather Flyte (@Heather Flyte) 1624456751
I raised two smart-asses. If they were going to be in a Florida University, they would find great pleasure in skewing Ronny\u2019s fascist nonsense.— Israel Jablonski (@Israel Jablonski) 1624454688
Defending liberalism from illiberal wokeness by *checks notes* administering ideological tests and threatening budget cuts for wrongthink https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/06/22/state-university-faculty-students-to-be-surveyed-on-beliefs/#\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/ccCgtHAikV— Zack Beauchamp (@Zack Beauchamp) 1624455675
