Stop Government Censorship with the JAWBONE Act

In February of 2026, Stephen Colbert was told not to broadcast his sit-down with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico. In September, Jimmy Kimmel was also told his Talarico interview would not air on ABC because the FCC had threatened his show, his network, and his local stations over who he books as guests. There is a name for this: jawboning, or censorship by proxy, when a government official pressures a private company into silencing speech, not by passing a law, but by threatening something the company needs, like a broadcast license.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr put it plainly on a podcast in September 2025, when he wanted ABC to drop Kimmel: “we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” The agency later ordered eight ABC-owned stations to renew their licenses years early. Disney and ABC have sued, calling the reviews retaliation for programming the administration does not like.

Pressure like this is hard to fight in court. Cases get thrown out when officials leave office, and the communications behind the pressure usually stay private. The JAWBONE Act (S. 4749) would change that. It would let people sue when a federal agency or employee coerces a broadcaster, website, or AI company into suppressing protected speech, even if the pressure does not work — and would require agencies to report those communications to Congress. Chairman Cruz (R-TX) and Senator Wyden (D-OR) introduced it in June 2026, and each points to abuses by an administration of his own party, which is the point: it would apply no matter who holds office. More than a dozen groups across the political spectrum have endorsed it, including Protect Democracy, the ACLU, the Knight First Amendment Institute, Americans for Tax Reform, and Independent Women’s Voice, and a bipartisan group of former FCC commissioners and chairs has objected to the agency’s conduct. The bill has been sitting in the Senate Commerce Committee without a vote ever since.

Press freedom in the United States is at a 25-year low, and an election year raises the stakes. Demand your senators cosponsor the JAWBONE Act and push the Commerce Committee to vote on it.

Content for this issue kindly contributed by Protect Democracy.