Members of both parties want government officials to stop putting pressure on social media platforms to censor speech, but turning that stance into law would require getting specific about what kind of pressure is inappropriate, and what those censored can do about it.
Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz has said he will “soon introduce” legislation that would “provide transparency” about government contacts with social media companies and allow individuals to sue if their speech has been indirectly censored due to government pressure, known as jawboning.
The Texas Republican has not yet released bill text for his anti-jawboning push, but any legislation that would prohibit indirect censorship would need to draw a careful line around what kind of communications the government can have with platforms, experts say. It would also have to establish standing for those who were harmed and put an economic value on their losses, and determine whether individual government officials or larger agencies can be held accountable.
