America is unique in that our Constitution explicitly protects our right to free speech. Other nations do not enjoy such liberty, and it shows.
Protecting our right to free speech should be a priority for Congress, and now the House Judiciary GOP has passed Rep. Darrell Issa's 'No Censors on Our Shores Act' to protect the free speech rights of Americans.
This morning, the Committee passed @repdarrellissa's No Censors on Our Shores Act to block foreign officials who violate Americans’ First Amendment rights from stepping foot on U.S. soil.
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) February 26, 2025
Here’s why. 🧵
They continue:
In April 2024, the Committee uncovered how Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered multiple American companies, including X, to suspend or remove over 150 social media accounts—including the accounts of U.S. residents and journalists—or face massive fines.…
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) February 26, 2025
We remember that.
When @elonmusk, an American citizen, and X refused to comply, Justice de Moraes threatened X’s legal representative in Brazil with arrest, froze Brazilian bank accounts of SpaceX, another Musk-owned company, and ordered Brazil’s telecom agency to block access to X across Brazil…
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) February 26, 2025
That was insane, but Brazil doesn't have the First Amendment.
Last week, Justice Moraes ordered Rumble, a popular video sharing platform with headquarters in Florida, to be “suspended” in Brazil after it too refused to comply with Moraes’ order to censor a U.S. resident and journalist.
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) February 26, 2025
Recommended
Clearly, Brazilian authorities learned nothing.
If a Brazilian judge can order American companies to censor the speech of U.S. residents, American free speech is in jeopardy.
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) February 26, 2025
Yes, it is.
But the foreign threat to American speech is not just from Brazil. The EU has also attempted to censor American speech.
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) February 26, 2025
The EU labeled this writer a thought criminal for 'illegal speech.'
In August 2024, Thierry Breton—the then-top EU official responsible for enforcing the EU’s censorship law, the Digital Services Act—threatened Elon Musk, a U.S. citizen, and X with regulatory reprisal under EU law if Musk did not sufficiently censor his upcoming interview with…
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) February 26, 2025
Also insane.
Breton publicly admitted what had been long suspected: Europe’s Digital Services Act can be weaponized to censor American speech in the United States. pic.twitter.com/LztfBVA5fH
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) February 26, 2025
They have no authority here.
These examples illustrate why the Committee passed the No Censors on Our Shores Act, which would make foreign officials who violate Americans’ First Amendment rights inadmissible to and deportable from the U.S.
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) February 26, 2025
Good.
Foreign government officials who have sought to silence Americans in the United States should not be able to turn around and visit their cushy vacation homes in the Hamptons or Miami Beach.
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) February 26, 2025
No, they shouldn't be able to do that.
This is an issue of American sovereignty. Online speech is uniquely susceptible to foreign censorship pressure. This is why the Committee needed to act.
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) February 26, 2025
We're glad they did.
The No Censors on Our Shores Act will hold foreign officials accountable for violating Americans’ First Amendment rights.
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) February 26, 2025
Watch the bill markup here:https://t.co/PiNjjt8dzf
Thank you for standing up for free speech.
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