Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who will debate California governor. Gavin Newsom, whose state offers a better model for the country, will lead an attack on free speech in Florida later this week that is virtually unprecedented in recent American history, a watchdog warned in a pair of reports released Tuesday.

Pen America, which defends the rights of authors and others around the world to write and speak out without fear of government reprisal, has written detailed reviews comparing the two states’ recent policies and proposals on of campus speech codes, book bans, curriculum battles, diversity and inclusion, internet freedom and other First Amendment issues in the interstate feud between DeSantis, a Republican, and Newsom, a Democrat.

The two men, whose states wield outsized influence on both the right and left, will debate Thursday night on Fox News. DeSantis hopes the debate will jump-start his faltering presidential campaign, while Newsom seeks to maintain his national stature amid speculation he will run in 2028.

The Pen report finds criticism of both states’ policies, but reserves its harshest judgment for DeSantis, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination as a culture warrior under the slogan that Florida is the state where wakes up to die. The policies of the states have consequences beyond their borders; Most of the bills analyzed in the report were passed in other states, and California is home to technology and entertainment industries with global reach.

Florida is pursuing an agenda of unprecedented censorship, manipulating the system to favor the views of those in power and silence dissenting voices, the Pen report said.

Authors, journalists and others who care about free speech should pay attention to both states, in part because of their governors’ ambitions and willingness to break down barriers at a time when states are leading most of the major cultural war battles, Suzanne Nossel said. The CEO of Pen America in an interview.

If you want to see where free speech is going in this country, you have to look closely at what they’re doing, she said.

The report details several bills proposed or passed in the Florida Legislature in recent years, most of which were supported by DeSantis.

These include the well-known bill that critics call Don’t Say Gay, which limits discussion of sexual orientation in classrooms, rules that limit discussion of race in public colleges and universities, bills that make it easier to ban books based on of parental objections and bills aimed at the masses. protests with stricter criminal penalties and drag shows.

Some bills have been blocked by courts, but the report says they still pose a threat to free speech because they create an immediate chilling effect, could ultimately withstand court challenges and are already inspiring new laws and proposals in Florida and elsewhere that could make that happen. achieve the same goals.

The drag show bill, which expands the state’s obscenity law to apply to some live performances, was temporarily stayed this month by a federal judge in central Florida after a restaurant filed a lawsuit.

Regardless of how the courts rule, the law has already chilled LGBTQ+ expression in the state, Pen’s authors wrote, citing canceled pride events in Southeast Florida and Central Florida and the dissolution of a drag Storytime chapter in Miami .

DeSantis has accused critics of falsifying his record and creating “political theater,” insisting, for example, that he expanded African-American history requirements in Florida schools while the state set limits on the teaching about systemic racism. In the case of the drag show bill, he said it targeted “sexually explicit” performances. “People can do whatever they want with some of that, but when you have minors there, I mean, you get situations where you have an eight-year-old girl, where you have these very explicit shows, and that’s just inappropriate,” he said at a press conference in May.

James Tager, research director for Pen America and co-author of the reports, said it was important to “be clear” and “send a warning signal” about Florida’s direction given DeSantis’ political ambitions.

“Florida views itself as a blueprint for a freer way of life and champions the rhetoric of freedom,” Tager said. “The main effect of some of their major proposals is to degrade and undermine the rights of freedom of expression in the state.

While Florida bore the brunt of Pens’ criticism, California’s laws received less attention.

The report calls California unequivocal victories on free speech for passing laws protecting journalists covering protests and limiting the ability of courts to allow rap lyrics as evidence in criminal cases.

But it blames the state for what it calls well-intentioned lapses, including a law that requires social media companies to submit regular reports on their content moderation to the attorney general. The authors argue that the law, while ambiguous in defining the attorney general’s role, could give the government more power to regulate speech.

The report also warns that a law intended to protect children on social media and other online platforms could curtail freedom of expression because it “requires companies to predict any content or practice that lawmakers consider ‘harmful’ to children could consider. The tech industry and publishing groups have also opposed the law as too broad, warning that it could restrict content intended for adults.

Newsom said when he signed it that the state will not stand by while social media is weaponized to spread hate and disinformation.

The report also criticizes the state for a policy approved last year by the California community college system’s Board of Governors that would evaluate college professors in part on their commitment to teaching anti-racist ideas underlying promoting diversity, equality and inclusivity. The policy has filed a lawsuit against a group of professors.

There is a difference between protecting the right of schools or faculty members to include DEI programming and requiring them to do so, especially in higher education, the authors wrote.

The organization labels the policy a gag order, arguing that it limits professors’ academic freedom by forcing them to adopt the college system’s position.