U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, who chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, has scheduled a full committee hearing titled “Shut Your App: How Uncle Sam Jawboned Big Tech Into Silencing Americans, Part II.” The hearing is set for Wednesday, October 29, 2025 at 10:30 a.m. EST in the Russell Senate Office Building.
The session will focus on claims that the Biden administration pressured major technology companies to censor online speech during the COVID-19 pandemic and recent elections. According to the committee’s announcement, witnesses are expected to discuss how federal officials allegedly influenced private companies to remove or demote certain content online, with an emphasis on the impact this had on conservative voices.
The upcoming hearing builds on issues previously addressed in “Shut Your App Part I” and Senator Cruz’s report about alleged secret censorship activities by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Senator Cruz cautioned that such agency actions could set a precedent for future interventions involving artificial intelligence.
“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,” said Sen. Cruz.
Scheduled witnesses include Markham Erickson of Google; Neil Potts of Meta; Will Creeley from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression; and Harold Feld from Public Knowledge.
The hearing will be livestreamed via both the committee website and YouTube. Members of the media interested in attending have been directed to RSVP through their respective press galleries.
