EDITORIAL: Protecting speech rights: Proposal from Sen. Cruz deserves a look

Bipartisanship is a lost art in Washington, D.C., but is it so far-fetched to hope both Democrats and Republicans can agree that the government shouldn’t be in the censorship business?

Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican, this week said he will introduce legislation making it easier for Americans to sue government officials for violating the First Amendment. He will soon hold hearings on the matter in the Senate Commerce Committee, which he chairs.

Sen. Cruz, with Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, was outspoken in his displeasure with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr when he threatened federal action against ABC for comments late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel made last month about the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. He has also vocally criticized Biden administration efforts to quash “misinformation” by leaning on social media platforms to suppress opinions during the pandemic.

“Censorship is wrong,” Sen. Cruz said, “regardless of who’s doing it.” In a release this week, Sen. Cruz expanded upon that thought, clearly articulating the importance of free, open and robust discourse in a democratic republic.

“Essential to keeping a society free is the ability of a citizenry to speak freely and debate openly without fear of government reprisal,” Sen. Cruz said. “That ability — to think and speak one’s mind — enables a society to hold its government to account. It’s so critical that our Founders made this natural right a constitutionally protected one.”

Details of Sen. Cruz’s bill remain vague, but The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday his proposal would “create a new procedure for plaintiffs bringing” government censorship cases “and introduce new definitions that courts and government agencies would have to follow.”

We’ll await the details, but the proposal could fashion a disincentive for government officials to use the power of the state to silence critics and discourse they dislike. It might also be worthwhile in this age of virtually endless media and information options for consumers to revisit the FCC’s power beyond ensuring an orderly usage of the broadcast spectrum.

A 2023 bill that sought to prevent government bureaucrats from co-opting Big Tech companies to silence critics of pandemic excesses passed the House but died in the Senate, where Democrats argued it would hamstring efforts to “target potentially harmful content or misinformation,” the Journal reports. But with Democrats now expressing frustration over the Kimmel fiasco, Sen. Cruz is encouraged that they may be more amenable to his proposal.

“Perhaps that poses an opportunity for us to work together in a bipartisan way,” he said.

There could no better cause for unity than strengthening the First Amendment.