Incident
United States (Florida): Halo Law buffer zone around first responders, January 2025
United StatesRSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180
- Access bans
- Stage Restrict
- Sustained
On January 1, 2025, the "Halo Law" took effect in Florida, a state in the south-eastern United States. It creates a 25-foot (7.6-metre) buffer zone around first responders, such as police officers, firefighters and paramedics, while they are performing their duties, and anyone who enters the zone "to 'harass, impede or threaten' first responders after receiving a warning" faces up to 60 days in prison and a fine of US$500. The law applies to journalists as well as the public. The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, signed it in 2024.1
What happened
Florida's "Halo Law," signed by the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, in 2024, took effect on January 1, 2025. Like Louisiana's buffer zone law of the same year, it sets a minimum distance that the public, including journalists, must keep from first responders performing official duties once warned to step back, and treats a violation as a crime.1234
The law firm Phelps Dunbar grouped Florida's law with Louisiana's as two state laws raising First Amendment concerns for reporters covering police. It noted that both leave anyone recording police to judge a safe distance on the spot or risk arrest.1234
Unlike Louisiana's law, Florida's had not been blocked by a court as of the sources cited.1234
Status as of 2026-09-22: In effect. The sources cited report no court order blocking it.4
What reason was given
Stated justificationThe law was presented as protecting first responders at active scenes. It applies "anywhere that first responders are actively performing their duties by creating a 25-foot buffer zone to allow them to carry on their duties," according to Fire Law Blog.2
What changed for reporting
Journalists covering police, fire and ambulance services in Florida must keep a 25-foot (7.6-metre) distance once warned, which limits their ability to document first responders' conduct at close range.3
Timeline
2025
Who acted
| Name | Role in this incident | Office at the time |
|---|---|---|
| Ron DeSantis | ordered | Governor of Florida |
Sources
- New buffer zone laws in Louisiana and Florida: their impact on journalists' First Amendment rights archived copy
- Halo Law goes into effect in Florida
Claims and evidence
Each numbered claim quotes the source it rests on.
- Florida's Halo Law took effect.
The law goes into effect today, January 1, 2025.
Halo Law goes into effect in Florida, Fire Law Blog, 2025-01-01.Claim 55, checked 2026-09-22. - The law was framed as protecting first responders at active scenes.
The Halo Law applies anywhere that first responders are actively performing their duties by creating a 25-foot buffer zone to allow them to carry on their duties.
Halo Law goes into effect in Florida, Fire Law Blog, 2025-01-01.Claim 56, checked 2026-09-22. - The law requires the public and journalists to keep a set distance from first responders once warned.
anyone who enters the area to 'harass, impede or threaten' first responders after receiving a warning will face up to 60 days in prison and a $500 fine
New buffer zone laws in Louisiana and Florida: their impact on journalists' First Amendment rights archived copy, Phelps Dunbar LLP.Claim 57, checked 2026-09-22. - No reversal or injunction against Florida's law was identified.
In Florida, the law goes into effect on January 1, 2025.
New buffer zone laws in Louisiana and Florida: their impact on journalists' First Amendment rights archived copy, Phelps Dunbar LLP.Claim 58, checked 2026-09-22.