House Republicans are pushing for new legislation that would punish federal employees and bureaucrats who use their authority to promote censorship of speech or pressure tech companies to censor speech.
The bill (pdf) named “Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act,” authored by three top Republicans, aims at preventing federal employees’ ability to violate free speech by creating new penalties and adding disciplinary actions for those who encourage censorship.
Penalties include similar measures to those of an already existing policy named the Hatch Act—a law that limits certain political activities of federal employees.
According to the proposed bill’s authors, penalties and disciplinary actions may include removal or debarment from federal employment, reduction in pay grade, or civil monetary penalties….