Bowling Green Today

U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), joined by Congresswoman Harriet Hageman (R-WY) and Congressman Dan Bishop (R-NC-08), introduced the Standing to Challenge Government Censorship Act on July 30, 2024. The proposed legislation aims to prohibit federal employees and contractors from using their positions to direct online platforms to censor speech protected under the First Amendment.

“Americans are a free people, and we do not take infringements upon our liberties lightly. Our Founding Fathers enshrined the First Amendment to protect our God-given right to free expression, recognizing its fundamental importance to a free society,” said Dr. Paul. “With the Standing to Challenge Government Censorship Act, we will strip away the barriers preventing judicial review of coercive government tactics that silence dissenting voices and ensure that no government official or contractor can undermine the First Amendment rights of Americans.”

Rep. Hageman emphasized the bill’s significance in addressing actions taken by the Biden Administration: “I have repeatedly said that the government cannot do by proxy what it is prohibited from doing directly. This is exactly what happened with the Biden Administration pressuring social media companies to suppress the free speech of American citizens.” She added that "The Standing to Challenge Government Censorship Act will not only ensure future litigants would have standing but also would apply to the plaintiffs in Murthy."

Rep. Bishop echoed these sentiments: “Malicious actors within government should never be allowed to silence and censor Americans, and Americans targeted by the Censorship Industrial Complex deserve their day in court.”

The bill seeks to empower individuals to sue government officials who coerce online platforms into censoring constitutionally protected speech. It applies retroactively to past First Amendment violations and establishes a presumption of liability for any government official attempting such pressure.

Supporters of this legislation include Jay Bhattacharya MD, PhD., Stanford University; Bradley A. Smith, Chairman and Founder, Institute for Free Speech; Ryan Walker, Executive Vice President, Heritage Action; L. Brent Bozell III, Founder and President, Media Research Center; George Landrith, President, Frontiers of Freedom Institute; Richard Manning, President, Americans for Limited Government; Vance Ginn, President of Ginn Economic Consulting; Yael Ossowski, Deputy Director, Consumer Choice Center; Phil Kerpen, President, American Commitment; Carl Szabo,Vice President & General Counsel, NetChoice; Jim Hanson, Executive Director, America Matters.

Background information highlights that on June 26, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled in Murthy v. Missouri that plaintiffs lacked standing to seek an injunction against government officials pressuring platforms into censorship related to COVID-19 discussions.

Dr. Paul himself was affected by this issue when YouTube removed his video discussing cloth masks' effectiveness during COVID-19 and suspended his account for a week in 2021.

The full text of the bill can be read [HERE].