Harriet Hageman

06/11/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/11/2026 14:32

Rep. Hageman Introduces Bill to Hold Federal Employees Accountable for AI Censorship

Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Harriet Hageman (R-WY) introduced the Preventing AI Censorship Act to give American citizens the right to sue federal employees who violate their First Amendment rights through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The Preventing AI Censorship Act extends the framework of Rep. Hageman's First Amendment Accountability Act to the future threat of AI-driven federal censorship. The Biden-Harris administration colluded with social media companies to suppress constitutionally protected speech, and current law left Americans with almost no recourse. As AI becomes the dominant platform for information, federal employees who pressure AI providers to filter content, distort outputs, or surveil users based on their views pose the same constitutional threat through a far more powerful tool.
"The First Amendment does not have an AI exemption. Federal employees who pressure AI companies to filter viewpoints, distort content, or spy on users based on their beliefs will face real legal consequences. Americans deserve a way to fight back, and my Preventing AI Censorship Act gives them one," said Rep. Harriet Hageman.
Background:
  • President Trump's March 2026 National Policy Framework for AI explicitly called on Congress to prevent the federal government from coercing AI providers to alter content based on partisan or ideological agendas, and to provide Americans an effective means to seek redress when federal agencies censor expression on AI platforms. The Preventing AI Censorship Act directly implements both of those priorities.
  • The House Judiciary Committee's Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government's December 2024 report found the Biden-Harris administration was already funding AI censorship tools, coercing developers to suppress content, and that some policymakers were pushing to import the EU's onerous AI regulations.
  • President Trump's Executive Order on preventing woke AI in the federal government similarly identified that AI models are already suppressing historically accurate information in order to advance DEI narratives about the past. The Preventing AI Censorship Act addresses exactly this threat by prohibiting federal employees from pressuring AI providers to distort outputs based on viewpoint or ideology.
  • The bill creates a private right of action, allowing any American citizen injured by covered conduct to sue the responsible federal employee in federal court.
  • Under the bill, covered conduct includes any action by a federal employee to coerce, compel, direct, induce, or encourage an AI provider to:
  • Suppress, remove, or alter AI outputs based on viewpoint, ideology, or religious belief;
  • Modify AI training data, model weights, or operational parameters to filter or distort expression based on viewpoint;
  • Deny or degrade a user's access to AI based on their viewpoint or political affiliation; or
  • Collect or disclose information about a user's AI prompts for the purpose of surveilling or penalizing lawful expression.
Harriet Hageman published this content on June 11, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 11, 2026 at 20:32 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]