Gov. Ron DeSantis signs bill banning Florida agencies from releasing photos, video or audio recorded during mass shootings

By Xander Peters on Fri, May 24, 2019 at 3:38 pm

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Gov. Ron DeSantis signs bill banning Florida agencies from releasing photos, video or audio recorded during mass shootings

Photo by Monivette Cordeiro

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Thursday that bans state government agencies from releasing all recordings of acts of mass violence to the public.

That means photos, video and audio recordings of mass shootings, such as what we witnessed on social media during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February 2018, or other violent incidents are banned from being released to the public. The bill cites the exemption to the open public records law as a necessity to protect victims' families and to prevent the images and recordings from inspiring others to kill.

The new law went into effect immediately.

The bill was sponsored by state Sen. Tom Lee, R-Thonotosassa.

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