A bill introduced by two Republican members of Congress would enable private citizens to sue federal employees in retaliation for being censored online.
As Just The News reports, the Censorship Accountability Act was introduced by Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Congressman Dan Bishop (R-N.C.). Schmit says that the legislation “is designed to deter censorship in the first place, but if officials violate the First Amendment again, the Act gives the American people recourse.”
The measure comes after recent reports that the Biden White House ordered Facebook executives to alter their algorithms in a way that boosted more mainstream sources while suppressing conservative sites, primarily over information regarding the Chinese Coronavirus and its vaccines.
“The Biden Administration’s brazen collusion with social media companies to censor speech should frighten every American regardless of their political affiliation,” said Senator Schmitt. “Now, I’m taking action to ensure that it never happens again. This legislation would allow citizens to hold individual bureaucrats accountable if they collude with social media companies to censor speech.”
“I’ve already filed legislation that would hold the social media companies accountable if they censor speech,” Schmitt added. “Now I’m working to hold the federal government actors accountable.”
The legislation would “finally [allow] Americans to sue federal employees who violate their First Amendment rights,” said Congressman Bishop. “The Censorship Industrial Complex should no longer be allowed to operate with impunity, and those who seek to destroy the freedom of speech should have to answer for it in a court of law.”
The Facebook revelations were made public by Congressman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, after documents recording the content of the Biden Administration meetings were subpoenaed from the social media giant.