U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) introduced a bill on Wednesday aimed to limit “government collusion” with Big Tech to censor Americans’ free speech.
“The purpose of the First Amendment is to prevent government from suppressing speech with which it disagrees. If the federal government is attempting to end-run the Constitution by secretly working with tech platforms to censor Americans’ speech, then the American people deserve to know. Requiring transparency will ensure that the government cannot work secretly to censor Americans,” Hagerty detailed of his proposed legislation.
The Disclose Government Censorship Act would require Executive and Legislative Branch employees to publicly disclose any communications with technology platforms regarding action or potential action by the platforms to restrict speech.
Further, the legislation will create a period during which government employees who connect with Big Tech platforms to censor speech will not be allowed to lobby for those companies.
The bill introduced by Hagerty comes after White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki admitted in a press brief that the Biden administration communicates with Big Tech platforms to restrict what users post.
Psaki said, “We are in regular touch with these social media platforms, and those engagements typically happen through members of our senior staff, but also members of our COVID-19 team. We’ve increased disinformation research and tracking within the surgeon general’s office. We’re flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation.”
Elected leaders across the country raised concerns about the details exposed by Psaki.
“It is outrageous the Biden administration is coordinating with Big Tech to infringe on American citizens’ First Amendment freedoms. Big Tech, the mainstream media, and the Administration have no credibility in determining what is and isn’t misinformation,” said Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI).
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for the Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
While you’re at it, Hagerty, let’s also end censorship against the Tennessee public schools teaching about Critical Race Theory and about sexual orientation. Let’s be consistant here, Senator!