Members of the United States Republican Party, led by Representative Chris Smith, from New Jersey, presented this Tuesday (1st) a bill that aims to stop funding non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that support censorship in Brazil.
The project, called “Law of Prohibition of Financing or Application of Censorship Abroad” (HR 9850), arises in response to the growing progress of institutions on freedom of expression in Brazil, especially after the actions of the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF ) Alexandre de Moraes, which resulted in significant restrictions on social media platforms, such as the blocking of X.
In announcing the bill, Chris Smith, who chairs the Subcommittee on Global Human Rights of the US House of Representatives, criticized the government of Joe Biden and his vice, Kamala Harris, stating that both have used foreign assistance programs to promote censorship in Brazil.
“The Biden-Harris administration has instrumentalized U.S. foreign assistance programs and other means to promote censorship in Brazil and suppress free speech that would be protected under our U.S. Constitution here at home,” Smith said.
“Freedom of speech is fundamental to democracy,” Smith said. “It is inconceivable that the United States is using taxpayer dollars to promote this type of censorship, which completely contradicts our entire American constitutional tradition,” he criticized.
The bill, which was also signed by Republican Reps. Jim Jordan and Maria Salazar, proposes cutting off U.S. financial assistance to any entity that promotes censorship and bans cooperation between U.S. law enforcement agencies and foreign governments that seek silencing political speech that would be protected if delivered on American soil. Jordan, for his part, expressed the urgency of the measure by stating: “This bill is critical to preventing foreign government censors from using the Department of Justice or the FBI to silence disfavored views.”
The bill also establishes that the US should not ease the Brazilian government’s censorship guidelines that affect US-based internet companies like X.
According to information, if approved by the American Congress, the law will restrict financial and judicial cooperation between North American bodies and Brazilian institutions.
“The United States must defend Elon Musk from attacks by Alexandre de Moraes and other forces of socialism in Brazil,” said Congresswoman Salazar. “The United States needs to defend the principles of its Constitution and support its citizens whenever they face censorship abroad,” he recalled.
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