The First Amendment needs all the help it can get these days. Many progressives want restrictions on “hate speech,” while Democrats weren’t shy about pushing private companies to censor “misinformation” during the pandemic. Meanwhile the FCC under a Republican president has threatened to use its licensing authority to punish broadcasters over perceived political slights. It is against this backdrop that unlikely bedfellows Sens. Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, and Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, last week introduced the JAWBONE Act, formally known as the Justice Against Weaponized Bureaucratic Overreach and Expression Act. The authors argue that their proposal is necessary to “hold government accountable for censorship and violations of the First Amendment.” The bill would make it easier for U.S. citizens to sue over federal government infringements of free-speech rights. “Evidentiary and doctrinal hurdles preclude remedies even in cases where the government clearly bullied companies into censoring speech,” Sens. Cruz and Wyden note. Under the legislation, government age
