“And so, it puts the company at a worse position than before because of the particular viewpoint they had.”ĭeSantis’ lieutenant governor, Jeanette Nunez, told Newsmax that the state could reverse course if Disney changed its stance on the governor’s latest education law. “The retaliation here is that the government, they’re taking away the special status that Disney had previously,” Haupt says.
Many are now wondering if Florida lawmakers violated Disney’s First Amendment right to free speech. Florida’s House followed suit that following Thursday, which allowed DeSantis to make it official after he signed the bill the very next day. On April 19, the governor asked Florida lawmakers to terminate Disney World’s privileges, and only one day later, Florida’s Senate voted to revoke the privileges starting in June 2023. “The uncontested core of the First Amendment is that it protects private political speech against government prohibitions and corporate speech, and like corporate speakers count for that too.” Haupt, associate professor of law and political science at Northeastern.
“I think it’s deeply problematic for the government to punish or to retaliate against a speaker whose message they don’t agree with and in particular when it’s a political message,” says Claudia E. “We were opposed to the bill from the outset, and we chose not to take a public position because we felt we could be more effective working behind the scenes directly with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle,” Chapek said.ĭeSantis chimed back saying Disney expressed “woke” opinions toward the law, and “tried to attack to advance their woke agenda,” Vox reports. Bob Chapek, the chief executive officer of the Walt Disney Company, openly criticized the bill following internal pressure he was receiving from Disney employees in Florida and the former CEO of the Walt Disney Company, Robert A. The bill, called “Parental Rights in Education” law, often referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, has led to a wide discussion about how it might impact children in schools. The conflict between the two groups started in March 2022 when the governor signed a bill that prohibits instruction and discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity in certain elementary school classrooms, the New York Times reports. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University Haupt, associate professor of law and political science, poses for a portrait. It can also provide police and fire protection while taxing itself.Ĭlaudia E. This means Disney is allowed to build and maintain municipal services, such as electricity, water, and roads. The district was established in 1967 when the state, working with the Walt Disney Company, created a special taxing district, which allows the entity to run the theme park with the same authority and responsibility as a county government. This was to relieve the surrounding counties of paying for new services and any infrastructure the company would like to use or create in the once rural farmland. The land, which measures 40-square miles, was controlled by Disney after the state designated the area as the Reedy Creek Improvement District, NPR reports. The theme park megaresort, located within Orange and Osceola County, started when Walt Disney, after being drawn to the interstate highway system in Orlando, bought millions of dollars worth of Central Florida farmland. Ron DeSantis, that opponents are calling the “Don’t Say Gay” law. The move comes after the company condemned a new state education law, signed by Gov. The Florida Legislature voted last week to strip one of the biggest multinational entertainment and media conglomerates in the world, the Walt Disney Company, of its 55-year-old self-governing privileges at Walt Disney World.