U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, has scheduled a full committee hearing for October 8, 2025, at 10:30 AM EST. The hearing, titled “Shut Your App: How Uncle Sam Jawboned Big Tech Into Silencing Americans,” will focus on government actions that allegedly pressured technology companies to restrict speech protected by the First Amendment.
The session will build on Senator Cruz’s recent report, which claims that the Biden administration’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) pressured social media companies to censor viewpoints that differed from the administration’s positions. According to the report, this activity faced little resistance from either the technology sector or oversight bodies such as the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General.
Senator Cruz stated, “The First Amendment is the bedrock of this country, and we have an obligation to defend it. My recently released report on CISA reveals how the Biden administration threatened the First Amendment by pressuring Big Tech companies to censor lawful speech, disproportionately affecting conservative voices. It is dangerous for the government to abuse is its authority and act as the speech police. No free society, built on an informed citizenry and public discourse, can thrive when government censors lawful speech and sets itself up as the arbiter of truth. With growing bipartisan interest in protecting free speech, I am increasingly hopeful Congress can advance legislation to stop government jawboning and safeguard every American’s right to free speech.”
The committee will consider legislative measures to address concerns about government influence over online speech, especially as new technologies like artificial intelligence become more prevalent.
Witnesses scheduled for the hearing include Eugene Volokh of Stanford University and UCLA, journalist Alex Berenson, Sean Davis of The Federalist, and Gene Kimmelman from Yale and Harvard.
The hearing will take place in the Committee Hearing Room at Russell 253. It will be livestreamed on both the Committee’s website and YouTube. Members of the media are advised to RSVP through their respective press galleries. An executive session previously planned for 10 AM has been postponed.
