Ted Cruz and Ron Wyden introduce the JAWBONE Act, which would let Americans sue US officials who try to coerce broadcasters or platforms into censoring speech
US Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today introduced the JAWBONE Act, a proposed law that could fuel lawsuits …
Ars TechnicaJon Brodkin
Context & Ripple Effects
The JAWBONE Act joins a continuing policy fight over how political speech is handled by online platforms. Earlier related proposals from Sen. Josh Hawley sought to expose large platforms to litigation or weaken their Section 230 protections over alleged political censorship, while industry groups challenged Texas’s platform-moderation law.
This bill takes a different target: federal officials’ alleged coercion of broadcasters and platforms, rather than platforms’ moderation choices themselves. Its bipartisan sponsorship also links speech-policy concerns across ideological lines.
First-order effects
If enacted, the bill would create a litigation path for Americans alleging that U.S. officials pressured broadcasters or platforms to suppress speech.
Federal agencies and officials communicating with platforms would face greater legal scrutiny, while platforms and broadcasters could be drawn into disputes over whether government contact crossed into coercion.
Second-order effects
Agencies may formalize, narrow, or more carefully document their communications with platforms to reduce exposure, potentially slowing informal coordination around contested content decisions.
Platforms could treat government requests more cautiously and preserve more records of those contacts, adding legal and compliance weight to already sensitive moderation decisions.
Third-order effects
The measure points toward speech-governance battles being resolved increasingly through private rights of action and judicial review, rather than primarily through platform policy or agency practice.
If this approach gains traction, the central legal boundary will become the distinction between permissible government persuasion and actionable coercion—a boundary likely to shape how public institutions engage with digital intermediaries.
The trend: The bill is one data point in the broader shift from debates over platform immunity and moderation rules toward legal constraints on the government’s role in influencing online speech.
Today, Sens. Cruz & Wyden introduced a great anti-jawboning bill. It: ▶️ creates a statutory ban on jawboning involving social media, AI, and broadcasters ▶️ lets victims sue the government, and ▶️ requires transparency so we can catch government jawboning when it happens
Government officials who can't censor you themselves shouldn't get to strong-arm platforms into doing it for them. That's government censorship by coercion. It's called jawboning, and it violates the First Amendment. [image]
Federal officials don't get to outsource censorship by bullying private platforms into doing their dirty work. Sens. Cruz and Wyden's JAWBONE Act would help stop that coercion and give victims a way to fight back. Passing it would be a win across party lines.
Under the Biden administration, officials pressured platforms to restrict posts on elections and COVID-19. Under Trump, broadcasters faced regulatory threats tied to Jimmy Kimmel's suspension after a joke. In both cases, the concern is the same. Government officials used [image]
@NicoPerrino How does this work when the biggest jawboner is the president himself, and any jawboning he does is going to be considered an official act for which he is immune from civil liability under Nixon v. Fitzgerald?
FINALLY: A bipartisan effort to end unconstitutional jawboning! The bill will require transparency and create a cause of action for damages when the feds coerce private platforms into censoring their users. Everyone — regardless of their politics — should support this.
Government officials can't legally censor protected speech, but they can strong-arm private parties into doing it for them. That's called jawboning, and it violates your First Amendment rights. We're supporting the JAWBONE Act to stop that coercion. [image]
A little BOLO from AM: Cruz's JAWBONE Act is finally coming today, and it's bipartisan, with Wyden. Comes amid Cruz's frustrations over FCC's Carr pressuring broadcasters but also touches on COVID days on social media and AI [image]
excited to hear this new anti-jawboning bill is coming from @SenTedCruz and bipartisan group of Senators. Very much needed, as @SpenceKjell noted in recent @RSI essay linked below.
Can't wait to read the full bill text of Sen. @tedcruz and @RonWyden's JAWBONE Act. As described, JAWBONE is similar to the GRANITE Act, only pointed at the *U.S.* government instead of foreign states. Brilliant idea! Congress should pass it. [image]