[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 191 (Thursday, December 8, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7047-S7048]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 2527

  Mr. HAGERTY. Mr. President, in the last week, new details have come 
to light regarding Twitter's top executives' past collusion with 
political figures to censor speech that they did not want the American 
people to see. This problem is not limited to Twitter, but this news 
underscores the problem and the need for congressional action to 
protect the rights of the American people. Americans deserve to know 
when their government and Big Tech platforms are trying to manipulate 
what they can say or what they can read.
  Recently published emails among Twitter executives reveal the extent 
to which the company worked to prevent Americans from seeing a New York 
Post story, and this was just weeks before the election. The extent of 
the suppression was breathtaking. Indeed, the Twitter executives locked 
the Twitter account of the White House Press Secretary who simply 
mentioned a story that was published in an established American 
newspaper with one of the largest circulations in the country. Facebook 
admits that it likewise limited the spread of this story based on a 
general warning from the FBI about ``propaganda.''
  Evidence has also emerged that in 2020, Biden and Democrat campaign 
officials were going so far as to send lists of tweets for their 
corporate allies to remove--requests that Twitter granted.
  This censorship activity has carried over into the Biden 
administration. In 2021, then-Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated that the 
government is ``in regular touch with social media platforms'' and 
``flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread [what she called] 
`disinformation'.''
  For example, a Facebook official emailed Surgeon General Vivek Murthy 
stating:

       I know our teams met today to better understand the scope 
     of what the White House expects from us on ``misinformation'' 
     going forward.

  A Facebook employee later told the HHS Department that a number of 
posts had been deleted.
  In addition to regularly flagging posts for Twitter and Facebook to 
take down, the CDC proposed setting up a monthly ``misinformation 
meeting'' with Facebook in order to censor American speech.
  Additional Freedom of Information Act requests and lawsuits have also 
revealed improper coordination between

[[Page S7048]]

government Agencies and social media companies to restrict speech here 
in America.
  Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, disclosed that it 
had communicated with more than 30 Federal officials about content 
moderation on its platform, including senior employees at the FDA, U.S. 
Election Assistance Commission, and the White House. YouTube, which is 
owned by Google, disclosed that it had such communications with 11 
Federal officials.
  The disturbing truth is that when the Biden administration officials 
don't like what Americans are saying, they simply reach out to their 
allies at unaccountable big tech companies to silence it.
  Government using its power to coerce censorship of disfavored 
information is what the Chinese Communist Party or what the North 
Korean regime might do. It is not only fundamentally un-American, but 
often, it is unconstitutional. Government cannot use Big Tech as a tool 
to end-run the First Amendment.
  The American people deserve to know when their government, which is 
supposed to work for them, is using Big Tech to censor their speech or 
manipulate the information they see. I introduced legislation in July 
of 2021 to require this transparency. Yet the Senate has failed to act 
on it.
  The Disclose Government Censorship Act would require that government 
officials publicly disclose communications with Big Tech regarding 
their actions to restrict speech--actions that would plainly violate 
the First Amendment if the government did it itself. The act contains 
appropriate exceptions to protect legitimate law enforcement or 
national security activity.
  It would also require a cooling-off period to address the revolving 
door that occurs between government and Big Tech. This Washington 
revolving door fuels politically driven censorship, as evidenced by the 
fact that the former FBI general counsel who resigned because of the 
Steele dossier scandal was then hired by Twitter and, unbelievably, was 
at the center of the decision to suppress the New York Post story in 
2020.
  Our Nation was founded on the ideal that protecting citizens' speech 
from government censorship--under the First Amendment--would protect 
the people's right to govern themselves by preventing the government 
from controlling information and ideas. Americans deserve to know when 
their government is covertly trying to accomplish what the First 
Amendment prohibits.
  Now, as in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be discharged 
from further consideration of S. 2527 and that the Senate proceed to 
its immediate consideration. I further ask that the bill be considered 
read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be 
considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there an objection?
  The Senator from Michigan.
  Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I certainly 
fully appreciate Senator Hagerty's interest in protecting the First 
Amendment and ensuring that legitimate speech is not unduly or unfairly 
restricted. I am also committed to holding big tech companies 
accountable. I held a series of bipartisan oversight hearings on social 
media this Congress, including bringing top executives in to testify 
and to answer tough questions.
  The legislation, though, we are discussing today has not been 
considered by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. 
I certainly look forward to working with my colleague to explore these 
issues more fully, but given this bill has not been marked up by the 
committee, I object.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mr. HAGERTY. Mr. President, my Democratic colleague is objecting to 
legislation that simply allows Americans to see when the government is 
trying to censor them.
  My colleague states that his objection is largely on procedural 
grounds, and he has concerns that my bill hasn't been marked up in 
committee, but the committee to which this bill was referred has had 
over a year to review the legislation, and no progress has been made.
  I would ask that my colleague commit to working with me on my 
legislation to address this important First Amendment issue in the next 
Congress. This problem is simply too significant to ignore. Our 
government works for the American people. To ensure this continues, the 
First Amendment prohibits the government from controlling what 
Americans say or read. But now government is using Big Tech to 
accomplish that censorship. Without disclosure of such communications, 
Americans' free speech rights become a dead letter because there is no 
way to address improper government efforts to ban speech.
  My legislation would preserve these rights by allowing Americans to 
see when government is trying to silence them. This is a basic element 
of self-government.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania.