FIRST ON FOX: Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul plans to introduce a bill to protect Americans from the Biden administration violating their First Amendment rights.
Fox News Digital has learned that Paul is expected to propose the Free Speech Protection Act on Tuesday, which would impose harsh penalties on federal employees and contractors who leverage their positions to attack speech protected under the First Amendment.
The bill would empower American citizens to sue the government and executive branch officials who violate the First Amendment of the Constitution, according to Paul’s office.
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The Kentucky senator plans to introduce the bill on Tuesday. Paul touched on crafting the bill in an interview with Fox News’ Jesse Watters last month.
Lawsuits from the Louisiana and Missouri attorneys general allege that the White House coerced or “significantly encourage[d]” tech companies to suppress free speech during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Alex Wong / Getty Images / File)
Paul’s bill comes after a U.S. District Court judge is temporarily preventing White House officials from meeting with tech companies about social media censorship, arguing that such actions in the past were likely First Amendment violations.
The Tuesday injunction by Louisiana Judge Terry A. Doughty was in response to recent lawsuits from Louisiana and Missouri attorneys general. The suits allege that the White House coerced or “significantly encourage[d]” tech companies to suppress free speech during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Google, Meta and Twitter were all named in the lawsuits. (Jaap Arriens / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, a period perhaps best characterized by widespread doubt and uncertainty, the United States Government seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth,’” Doughty wrote.
“If the allegations made by Plaintiffs are true, the present case arguably involves the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history,” the injunction adds. “In their attempts to suppress alleged disinformation, the Federal Government, and particularly the Defendants named here, are alleged to have blatantly ignored the First Amendment’s right to free speech.”
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