A New Bill Takes Aim at Government Pressure to Silence Lawful Online Speech
Senators Ted Cruz and Ron Wyden have introduced the JAWBONE Act, a bipartisan bill that would give people a legal avenue to sue government officials who pressure broadcasters, online platforms, or AI providers to suppress lawful speech. The bill would also require the government to disclose its communications with those intermediaries about user content.
Why this matters: The government pressuring private platforms to take down speech is a real problem, and it has happened across administrations. When officials lean on tech companies behind closed doors, users lose posts or accounts without any public record of why. This bill attacks both sides of that: it gives individuals a way to sue, and it forces those communications into the open. The transparency piece matters as much as the lawsuit piece. You cannot hold officials accountable for pressure you cannot see.
Who should care: General readers · AI governance · Policy
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