But he did not miss the opportunity to debate who was censoring whom.
Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore) have introduced a bipartisan bill that they say would “hold the government accountable for censorship and First Amendment violations.” They’re calling it the Justice Against Weaponized Bureaucratic Overreach to Networked Expression (JAWBONE) Act. They named it after jawboning, an act in which a government attempts to persuade or pressure private companies to change their moderation policies or censor speech.
“Americans face significant hurdles in proving these violations,” the senators said in their announcement. The JAWBONE Act, if it becomes law, would “provide a cause of action against any government agency or employee,” even if it is an unsuccessful attempt at censorship, and would allow plaintiffs to seek monetary damages. Under current laws, plaintiffs can only seek an injunction to prevent future violations. Government agencies would also be required to hand over certain communications with the companies involved in the complaints to “ensure greater accountability and transparency within the federal government.”
While the bill is bipartisan, senators did not miss the opportunity to debate who exactly is censoring whom. In his statement, Senator Cruz attacked the Biden administration, which he accused of “weaponizing the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to pressure Big Tech to ‘cance out’ Americans who speak out against vaccine mandates and election fraud.”
However, Senator Wyden said the most blatant example of bungling is “Trump threatening cable companies because he doesn’t like his late-night shows.” Wyden’s spokesperson said Ars Technica The bill would also apply to the Trump administration pressuring app stores to remove certain applications, as it did with ICEBlock. The creator of the app, which allows users to pin the location of ICE agents on a map, is suing the government over “unlawful threats” that led to the app being removed from the store.
Wyden said the jaw-dropping action is not partisan and promised that the bill would give Americans the ability to file lawsuits if the government “illegally forces censorship.” Similarly, Senator Cruz said the bill would ensure that “the First Amendment is protected, not weakened.”
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