U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who serves as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, has scheduled a full committee hearing for October 29, 2025. The hearing, titled “Shut Your App: How Uncle Sam Jawboned Big Tech Into Silencing Americans, Part II,” will focus on allegations that the Biden administration pressured major technology companies to censor online speech during the COVID-19 pandemic and recent elections.
The session aims to explore claims that federal officials influenced private companies to remove or demote content and accounts, particularly those expressing conservative viewpoints. This builds on topics discussed in a previous hearing and Senator Cruz’s report about alleged secret censorship activities by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
Senator Cruz commented on the upcoming hearing: “The First Amendment is a powerful weapon that protects against government’s efforts to silence its own citizens. However, we have seen the government trample on this right through third parties, joining with Big Tech to censor Americans, often under the guise of safety or national security. In a free society, the people govern by speaking freely and debating openly without government retaliation. To keep our society free, we must empower Americans to hold government officials accountable. I hope we will advance bipartisan legislation to stop government jawboning and protect freedom of thought in our country.”
The witness list includes Markham Erickson, Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy at Google; Neil Potts, Vice President of Public Policy at Meta; and Will Creeley, Legal Director at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. An additional witness may be announced later.
The hearing is set for 10:00 a.m. EST in Russell Senate Office Building Room 253. It will be livestreamed on the committee’s website and YouTube channel. Members of the media interested in attending are instructed to RSVP through their respective press galleries.
