Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill into law allowing Florida’s college students to record professors in class, upon permission from the professors.
The measure states students “may record video or audio of class lectures for their own personal educational use, in connection with a complaint to the public institution of higher education where the recording was made, or as evidence in, or in preparation for, a criminal or civil proceeding.”
Florida law did require “both parties in a conversation consent to having that interaction recorded,” but with American academia drifting radically left, students will now be able to record those lectures if the professor permits the class.
“Floridians want to know they are funding institutions that live up to the standard of raising the next generation of open-minded leaders and thinkers, and right now, our state colleges and universities are not living up to that standard,” a Campus Reform Correspondent and student at the University of Florida Ophelie Jacobson told Fox News.
Some professors oppose class recordings because “the recordings can potentially capture intellectual property from lectures.”
Professor of Law at Florida State University Clyde W. Atkinson said:
Nobody will feel comfortable participating in class knowing that someone else may be making a permanent record of their words. These records, especially if taken out of context, may come back to haunt speakers later when seeking employment, promotion, public office, or personally.
The new law in Florida comes as professors are teaching theories they hope take hold such as Critical Race Theory.
The legislation passed the House 77-42 and the Senate 23-15 and will take effect on July 1.