MIAMI — The administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida must stop threatening television stations with criminal prosecution for airing a political ad in favor of enshrining abortion rights in the state’s Constitution, a federal judge ordered Thursday.

Judge Mark E. Walker of U.S. District Court in Tallahassee ruled in a temporary restraining order that the threats by the Florida Department of Health to stations across the state likely amounted to “unconstitutional coercion” and “viewpoint discrimination.”

“The government cannot excuse its indirect censorship of political speech simply by declaring the disfavored speech is ‘false,’ ” Walker, who has frequently ruled against the administration, wrote in his 17-page order. “To keep it simple for the state of Florida: It’s the First Amendment, stupid.”

The order followed an emergency hearing Thursday after Floridians Protecting Freedom, the organization behind a campaign for an abortion-rights ballot measure known as Amendment 4, sued Wednesday. The ad in question is called “Caroline.”