Earlier this month, Florida state senator Jason Brodeur proposed a piece of legislation that has to count among the most stupidly sinister in recent memory. SB 1316, which Brodeur has innocuously titled “An Act Relating to Information Dissemination,” would force bloggers who write about Ron DeSantis and other government officials to register with the state or face stiff financial penalties if they refuse.

The bill would further compel anyone who wants to write about “elected state officers” (defined in its text as “the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, a Cabinet officer, or any member of the Legislature”) to disclose the source and amount of any compensation they receive, right down to the individual post: “If a blogger posts to a blog about an elected state officer and receives, or will receive, compensation for that post, the blogger must register.”

Brodeur has sought to frame the legislation using the language of openness and transparency. “Paid bloggers are lobbyists who write instead of talk,” he told Florida Politics. “They both are professional electioneers. If lobbyists have to register and report, why shouldn’t paid bloggers?”