Bipartisan JAWBONE Act would let users sue officials who coerce platforms into censorship

Senators Ted Cruz and Ron Wyden have introduced the JAWBONE Act, a bipartisan bill that creates a federal cause of action against government officials who coerce—or attempt to coerce—broadcasters, online services, or AI providers into suppressing lawful, First-Amendment-protected speech. The bill also sets up a transparency regime requiring disclosure of government communications with these intermediaries about user expression. It targets “jawboning,” the practice of officials pressuring private companies to remove content the government can’t legally ban itself, and it gives victims a statutory remedy on top of existing constitutional protections.

The EFF, which backs the bill, points to its representation of Joshua Aaron, creator of the ICEBlock app for reporting immigration-enforcement activity. After federal officials threatened to investigate and prosecute Aaron in mid-2025, the Attorney General demanded Apple pull the app in October 2025, and Apple complied. The EFF has filed a FOIA suit seeking the government’s communications with Apple, Google, and Meta over removals of similar lawful services.

The group stresses two limits that lawmakers and courts must respect. Not every government-to-platform communication is unconstitutional coercion—treating routine, good-faith information-sharing as illegal would chill useful cooperation. And platforms themselves hold First Amendment rights to moderate and curate content; they are not state actors obligated to host all speech, a principle the Supreme Court reaffirmed in the NetChoice cases. Preserving that editorial freedom, the EFF argues, is itself a defense against jawboning, since it keeps governments from dictating moderation decisions.