Republicans Pass Bill to Prohibit Feds from Censorship Pressure to Platforms

House Republicans have passed a bill that would prevent federal government officials from putting pressure on tech platforms to censor.

House bill HR 140, or the “Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act,” would “prohibit Federal employees from advocating for censorship of viewpoints in their official capacity, and for other purposes.” The bill passed due to the House Republican majority as lawmakers voted along party lines.

While the bill is a key first step toward safeguarding the First Amendment right to free speech, it is just the beginning. “It was evil for government to collude with Big Tech to deprive conservatives of our basic human rights, so this bill is certainly needed,” MRC Free Speech America Vice President Dan Schneider said. “But it barely scratches the surface of the harms perpetrated by Big Tech against the American people. Congress must not rest on its laurels with this bill. We need wholesale reforms to protect free speech and to rein in Big Tech.”