At a Senate Commerce Committee hearing titled “Shut Your App: How Uncle Sam Jawboned Big Tech Into Silencing Americans,” Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) raised concerns about government interference in free speech through what he called “jawboning.” This term refers to government officials pressuring private companies to suppress or censor user content, often citing reasons like safety or national security.
Sen. Cruz referenced a report he released the previous week, which alleges that the Biden administration used the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to influence social media companies in moderating protected speech. According to Cruz, two witnesses at the hearing, Alex Berenson and Sean Davis, were personally affected by such actions. Berenson was removed from a platform for questioning the administration’s COVID-19 policies, and Davis was shadow-banned for raising concerns about mail-in voting.
Cruz also warned that similar tactics could be used to shape information distributed through artificial intelligence. He criticized efforts where AI developers were encouraged to let federal agencies test their products for misinformation and “harmful” content.
To address these issues, Cruz announced plans for new legislation aimed at restricting government jawboning and increasing accountability. He previewed this as part of his Legislative Framework for American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.
In his prepared statement, Cruz said:
“In a free society, the people govern — not by mob or might — but by reasoned argument and the rule of law. Essential to keeping a society free is the ability of a citizenry to speak freely and debate openly without fear of government reprisal. That ability — to think and speak one’s mind — enables a society to hold its government to account. It’s so critical that our Founders made this natural right a constitutionally-protected one.
“The First Amendment is a powerful weapon against the government’s ability to publicly censor its own citizens. But in recent years, we have seen the government censor in secret through third parties, ‘jawboning’ Big Tech into suppressing user content, often under the guise of ‘safety’ or ‘national security.’
“It starts subtly. Officials say they are combatting foreign disinformation campaigns from the Russians or the Chinese. Next, they clamp down on anyone re-posting such content. Then, government officials curtail speech that undermines their own positions.
“Tweeting about COVID-19 vaccine mandates or the efficacy of wearing a mask? Sorry, that’s a ‘safety’ issue. Questioning mail-in voting? That’s a threat to critical election infrastructure.
“And so, our government becomes the speech police—the arbiter of truth—silencing those that disagree.
“Last week, I released a report detailing how the Biden administration weaponized the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to pressure Big Tech into policing speech. Two of today’s witnesses—Alex Berenson and Sean Davis—were personally targeted by our government. At the behest of government officials, Mr. Berenson was completely deplatformed for having the temerity to challenge the Biden COVID narrative. Mr. Davis was shadow-banned for questioning the integrity of mail-in voting.
“But the silencing didn’t stop there. The Biden administration sought to bring its censorship playbook into the Age of AI. It ‘volun-told’ AI developers to allow the National Institute of Standards and Technology to test AI products for misinformation and ‘harmful’ speech. The National Science Foundation funded propaganda tools.
“By controlling AI inputs and outputs, the Biden administration was deciding what information Americans could see and consume—an effort that continues with laws in California, Colorado, and New York.
“Now censorship is growing around the world. In the United Kingdom, more than 12,000 Britons are arrested every year for speech-related offenses, according to the Times of London. My CISA report shows why, in this context, the United States must remain a free speech beacon, zealously guarding against censorship regardless of who is in office.
“A few weeks ago, I received a letter from nearly every Democrat on this Committee calling for a hearing to stop an ‘unprecedented attack on the First Amendment.’ The letter rightly stated that ‘government officials cannot attempt to coerce private parties in order to punish or suppress views that the government disfavors.’
“But my colleagues weren’t referring to the silencing of Messrs. Berenson and Davis or any of the other countless Americans censored during the previous administration. They were coming to the defense of Jimmy Kimmel, whose unpopular show was suspended by ABC following critical comments from the FCC Chairman.
“I’ve been clear on my views about Chairman Carr’s comments.
“But I must ask my colleagues: Where were you when the Biden administration was silencing the American people?
“Maybe it’s too much to ask Democrats to defend the First Amendment regardless of who is in power, not just when it is politically convenient.
“No government official—regardless of party—should be engaged in jawboning. The First Amendment is not about opinions you agree with. It’s not about opinions that are right and reasonable. The First Amendment is about opinions that you passionately disagree with and the right of others to express them. I am one who agrees with John Stuart Mill – the best solution for bad ideas, for bad speech, is more speech and better ideas. We don’t need to use brute force to silence them because truth is far more powerful than force.
“In the coming weeks, I will be introducing legislation to prohibit government jawboning and empower Americans to hold government officials accountable.
“As we’ll hear today, Alex Berenson and Sean Davis face major hurdles in seeking remedies after the government launched secret censorship campaigns against them. My bill will fix that problem.
“I’ll give my Democrat colleagues a chance to redeem themselves: Join me in standing up for free speech by working to advance this legislation and stop censorship by government officials.
“I thank the witnesses who are here with us today, and I look forward to this critical discussion about how we can protect freedom of thought in our country.”
