WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is marking up several bills today, including the JAWBONE Act (S. 4749), bipartisan legislation from Sens. Ted Cruz and Ron Wyden to combat government coercion of online speech. NetChoice previously voiced its support for the JAWBONE Act when Sens. Cruz and Wyden first introduced the legislation in June, and welcomes today’s progress as the bill moves closer to a full Senate vote.
“Today’s markup moves us one step closer to giving platforms a genuine legal remedy to defend their right to make editorial decisions, free from backroom pressure by government officials,” said Zach Lilly, Director of Government Affairs at NetChoice.
“Americans and the services they rely on deserve a clear path to hold bureaucrats accountable in court when they cross the line from persuasion into coercion. We are glad to see the Committee recognizes how urgent this is.”
By providing a framework to distinguish between legitimate dialogue and unconstitutional coercion, the JAWBONE Act ensures that law enforcement can continue to work with platforms to protect consumers while empowering those same platforms and citizens when the government oversteps its bounds and violates the First Amendment.
NetChoice applauds the Committee for advancing this critical bill, which takes concrete steps to protect the First Amendment, and encourages the full Senate to swiftly advance it.
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