Ted Cruz and Ron Wyden try to fight censorship with bipartisan JAWBONE Act
Ted Cruz and Ron Wyden try to fight censorship with bipartisan JAWBONE Act
特德·克鲁兹与罗恩·怀登联手推动两党《JAWBONE法案》，旨在打击审查制度
US Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today introduced the JAWBONE Act, a proposed law that could fuel lawsuits against federal officials who try to coerce broadcasters or tech platforms into restricting speech. 美国参议员特德·克鲁兹（共和党，得克萨斯州）和罗恩·怀登（民主党，俄勒冈州）今日共同提出了《JAWBONE法案》。该法案若获通过，将为起诉那些试图胁迫广播公司或科技平台限制言论的联邦官员提供法律依据。
The Justice Against Weaponized Bureaucratic Overreach to Networked Expression Act would prohibit federal agencies and employees from coercing or trying to coerce broadcasters and providers of online services or AI services into changing content. 《通过打击官僚机构滥用职权保护网络表达法案》（简称《JAWBONE法案》）将禁止联邦机构及其雇员胁迫或试图胁迫广播公司、在线服务提供商或人工智能服务商更改其内容。
The bill could apply to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr’s repeated attempts to pressure TV networks and broadcasters, or government pressure imposed on social media firms and AI chatbot makers. 该法案可能适用于联邦通信委员会（FCC）主席布伦丹·卡尔（Brendan Carr）多次向电视网和广播公司施压的行为，以及政府对社交媒体公司和人工智能聊天机器人开发商施加的压力。
The bill would create a private right of action for victims of “jawboning,” letting people recover compensatory damages in court. Individuals whose speech is stifled could bring cases against government officials, and the proposed law could be enforced by state attorneys general through civil actions. 该法案将为“劝诱式审查”（jawboning）的受害者设立私人诉讼权，允许他们在法庭上获得补偿性赔偿。言论受到压制的个人可以起诉政府官员，州检察长也可以通过民事诉讼来执行该法律。
“Jawboning occurs when the government pressures private companies to censor speech protected by the First Amendment,” said a press release issued by Cruz and Wyden today. The JAWBONE Act is “legislation to hold the government accountable for censorship and violations of the First Amendment,” it said. 克鲁兹和怀登今日发布的新闻稿称：“当政府向私营公司施压，要求其审查受第一修正案保护的言论时，就构成了‘劝诱式审查’。”新闻稿指出，《JAWBONE法案》旨在“让政府为其审查行为和违反第一修正案的行为负责”。
The bill is bipartisan, and the Republican Cruz previously criticized the Republican Carr for coercing ABC into suspending Jimmy Kimmel. A quote from Cruz in today’s press release focuses only on actions taken by the Biden administration, though. 该法案具有两党背景。共和党人克鲁兹此前曾批评同为共和党的卡尔胁迫美国广播公司（ABC）停播吉米·坎摩尔（Jimmy Kimmel）的节目。不过，克鲁兹在今日新闻稿中的引言仅聚焦于拜登政府采取的行动。
“The Biden administration weaponized the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to pressure Big Tech into ‘canceling’ Americans who spoke out against vaccine mandates and election fraud. Holding the government accountable and giving Americans the tools to fight back is essential,” Cruz said. 克鲁兹表示：“拜登政府将网络安全与基础设施安全局（CISA）武器化，向大型科技公司施压，要求其‘封杀’那些反对疫苗强制令及质疑选举舞弊的美国人。让政府承担责任并赋予美国人反击的工具至关重要。”
Wyden calls out “blatant” Trump threats. The joint press release has a quote from Wyden criticizing Trump for trying to censor late-night TV. “The most blatant example is Trump threatening cable companies because he doesn’t like their late-night shows, but jawboning isn’t partisan, and it isn’t new,” Wyden said. 怀登则点名批评了特朗普“明目张胆”的威胁行为。联合新闻稿中引用了怀登批评特朗普试图审查深夜电视节目的言论。怀登说：“最明显的例子就是特朗普因为不喜欢深夜秀节目而威胁有线电视公司，但‘劝诱式审查’并非党派问题，也不是什么新鲜事。”
Wyden said that “nearly all of Americans’ speech—including TV news, online streams and social media—flows through private corporations that are highly susceptible to government pressure.” A spokesperson for Wyden told Ars that the bill would apply to other scenarios not mentioned in the bipartisan press release, like the Trump administration pressuring app stores to take down apps such as ICEBlock. 怀登表示：“几乎所有美国人的言论——包括电视新闻、在线流媒体和社交媒体——都通过极易受到政府压力影响的私营公司进行传播。”怀登的一位发言人告诉《Ars Technica》，该法案将适用于两党新闻稿中未提及的其他场景，例如特朗普政府曾向应用商店施压，要求下架ICEBlock等应用程序。
A bill summary said that under current legal precedent, plaintiffs must prove that coercion succeeded in causing removal of or changes to content. The bill would let plaintiffs sue and obtain financial damages from “any government agency or employee that jawbones companies involved in social media, AI, or broadcasting, regardless of whether the jawboning succeeds.” 法案摘要指出，根据现行法律先例，原告必须证明胁迫行为成功导致了内容的删除或更改。而该法案将允许原告起诉并从“任何对社交媒体、人工智能或广播公司进行劝诱式审查的政府机构或雇员”处获得经济赔偿，无论这种劝诱是否成功。
The bill specifically authorizes financial damages, because under current law, plaintiffs can only obtain injunctions that prevent future or ongoing violations, the summary said. With financial damages, government officials who engage in unlawful censorship could be held accountable even after leaving office. 摘要称，该法案明确授权经济赔偿，因为根据现行法律，原告只能获得防止未来或持续违规行为的禁令。有了经济赔偿机制，参与非法审查的政府官员即使在离职后也可能被追究责任。
The bill also “requires agencies to submit certain communications with social media companies, AI companies, and broadcasters to a portal with detailed public summaries and full access for Congress, helping ensure jawboning does not occur in secret,” the summary said. 该法案还“要求各机构将与社交媒体公司、人工智能公司和广播公司的某些通信内容提交至一个门户网站，并附上详细的公开摘要，同时允许国会全面访问，以确保‘劝诱式审查’不会在暗箱中进行，”摘要写道。
The bill text said broadcasters, online services, and “speech-enabling artificial intelligence systems are critical for access to information and individual expression and have a right to independent editorial judgement. Such entities can also serve as chokepoints convenient for the government to target for censorship of disfavored speech and information.” 法案文本指出，广播公司、在线服务和“支持言论的人工智能系统对于获取信息和个人表达至关重要，并拥有独立的编辑判断权。这些实体也可能成为政府方便利用的‘瓶颈’，从而针对不被看好的言论和信息进行审查。”
The bill defines broadcasters to include stations with FCC licenses and the national TV networks that provide programming to affiliate stations. This means coercion of local stations and national networks would violate the law. “The term ‘coerce’ means to take a harmful, hostile, or unfavorable action, to imply the possibility of taking such action, or to threaten such action,” the bill said. 法案将广播公司定义为包括持有FCC执照的电台以及为附属电台提供节目的全国性电视网。这意味着胁迫地方电台和全国性电视网都将违反该法律。法案称：“‘胁迫’一词是指采取有害、敌对或不利的行动，暗示采取此类行动的可能性，或威胁采取此类行动。”
ACLU and Grover Norquist joined in support. The bill has a range of supporters, from the American Civil Liberties Union to Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform. ACLU Senior Policy Counsel Jenna Leventoff said the government has repeatedly “abused its authority to coerce private actors into censoring themselves,” and that the bill “would protect the First Amendment by stopping this kind of unconstitutional jawboning against broadcasters, platforms, and AI providers.” 美国公民自由联盟（ACLU）和格罗弗·诺奎斯特（Grover Norquist）的“美国税制改革组织”等各方均表示支持。ACLU高级政策顾问珍娜·莱文托夫（Jenna Leventoff）表示，政府一再“滥用职权，胁迫私营主体进行自我审查”，而该法案“将通过制止这种针对广播公司、平台和人工智能提供商的违宪劝诱行为，来保护第一修正案。”