'The Single Greatest Threat To Free Speech': Ted Cruz Presses Trump Nom On 'Big Tech Censorship'

last week

During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) spoke about censorship on 'Big Tech' platforms.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you to you both.

00:03Your backgrounds are remarkable.

00:06Mr. Kratios, let's start with you.

00:08Mr. Kratios, during the first Trump administration, you served as the U.S. Chief Technology Officer

00:13and as the third highest ranking official at the U.S. Department of Defense.

00:18Mr. Meador, you bring extraordinary experience, not only from your time at the FTC, but also

00:23from your tenure at the Department of Justice, the Antitrust Division, and your work in the

00:28Senate as a recidivist, twice going to work for Mike Lee.

00:33Mr. Kratios, please tell the committee, why do you want to be the Director of the Office

00:39of Science and Technology Policy?

00:41I deeply believe that it is critically important for our nation to lead the world in emerging

00:48technologies.

00:49These are technologies like AI, like quantum, like advanced telecommunications that will

00:53power our economy, ensure our long-term national security.

00:57And if there is one agency within the government that can help in this mission, it is OSTP.

01:01It's an organization that was established to coordinate all the disparate science and

01:06technology equities across the government.

01:09I'm familiar with how the agency operates, and I believe that I can do a very great job

01:15in driving these initiatives across government.

01:18Now, as Chief Technology Officer during the first Trump administration, you played a key

01:23role in freeing up a significant amount of federal spectrum for 5G through the AMBIT

01:28process.

01:30Do you expect that this administration will again push for freeing up spectrum for commercial

01:34use?

01:36I think it's critically important to always be looking at ways that we can better utilize

01:40the spectrum that is currently being occupied by various government agencies.

01:45And the process that we're able to show in the AMBIT process is that if you bring the

01:49right technologists to bear on these problems, we can find a way that can benefit both the

01:54national security interests of the United States and the commercial interests.

01:56So I think it is very possible to be done, and I think we just have to bring to bear

02:00the great science and technologists at OSTP to help solve the critical technical problems

02:05or technical challenges associated with freeing up some of the spectrum.

02:09And given your experience as a senior leader at the Defense Department, would you agree

02:13that it is technologically possible to free up spectrum without compromising national

02:18security?

02:20I think it's proven that it can be done, it's been done before, and I think if we get the

02:23right minds together in a room, I think these are the types of problems that we can solve

02:27collectively.

02:28Terrific.

02:29Mr. Medder, during the nomination hearing for Commissioners Ferguson and Holyoke, I

02:35noted the challenges posed by evolving markets and emerging technologies.

02:39I've long thought the actions of big tech and our reliance on such companies may raise

02:44both consumer protection and antitrust concerns.

02:48I was very pleased to see Chairman Ferguson issue a request for information last week

02:53seeking public comment regarding technology platform censorship.

02:58He highlighted that current actions by tech platforms may violate their own terms of service

03:03in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act.

03:07Mr. Medder, how should the FTC address the challenges posed by emerging technologies

03:12and big tech?

03:14Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

03:15I believe the FTC has taken the first step, which is to collect all of the facts.

03:20Before we can make any enforcement decision, we need to know the marketplace reality.

03:24And so reaching out to consumers to hear about their experiences is the very first thing

03:28we need to do.

03:29After that, it's a matter of looking at the facts under the law to see whether there has

03:34been, in the case of a consumer protection matter, some act of unfair practice or deception

03:39of consumers.

03:40And so I'm confident that with this first step of collecting information, the FTC is

03:44off to the right start.

03:45And if I'm fortunate enough to be confirmed, I look forward to working with Chairman Ferguson

03:49and the other commissioners to look at this issue very closely.

03:52Would you agree that the FTC has ample tools to address the challenge of big tech censorship?

04:02And I have long said that I think big tech censorship poses the single greatest threat

04:06to free speech and free and fair elections in this country.

04:09Do you agree with that assessment?

04:11I do, Chairman.

04:13I believe that the FTC has a lot of tools at its disposal currently, and the first thing

04:17that it can do is to undertake an examination of the market through that lens to see what

04:23tools we have available to address the harms that we identify in the marketplace.

04:27Should we encounter some harm that can't be solved with the tools that FTC has today,

04:31I would be happy to work with your office and other members of the committee to discuss

04:35what the path forward might be for additional tools to solve that problem.

04:38Mr. Kratios, at OSTP, you played a pivotal role in advancing the United States' AI strategy,

04:45and you helped establish many of the tenets put in place under the 2020 National Artificial

04:50Intelligence Initiative Act.

04:53But some of those tenets were abused by the Biden administration.

04:56The first Trump administration's AI initiative emphasized NIST's role in developing basic

05:02measurement standards for AI.

05:05Under President Biden, NIST used authorities granted by the AI Initiative Act to develop

05:10standards for evaluating supposed AI risks, and I put that in quote, such as bias and

05:19misinformation.

05:21Biasing standards became a Trojan horse for progressive social policies.

05:27In January 2025, President Trump issued a new AI executive order in which he directed

05:31OSTP to develop an AI action plan.

05:35The president knows the United States must avoid the European model of premature regulation,

05:40something Vice President J.D. Vance also emphasized in his speech at the Paris AI Summit the other

05:45week.

05:47How did the previous administration deviate from the AI strategy that you put in place,

05:53and how do you anticipate that the Trump administration will build on your past work to ensure American

05:59leadership and dominance in AI?

06:03I look forward to, if confirmed, working on the AI action plan with other members of the

06:07White House and the interagency.

06:09The most important thing to me when you think about applying an AI strategy across the agencies

06:16is to think very carefully and critically about what the individual missions of the

06:20various agencies are and align the policy actions associated with the strategy to the

06:25mission.

06:26With regards to NIST, for example, NIST has a long bipartisan history of being an agency

06:31that does measurement science, and the work associated with any AI initiative should be

06:36in the light of that.

06:37It should be focused on measurement science.

06:39So to me, I look forward to working with a wide variety of agencies that would be involved

06:44in driving this AI action plan, but most critically, and I think through the lens

06:47that I would be looking through all of this through, is understanding what the strengths

06:51are of individual agencies and making sure that how they contribute to the larger strategy

06:56aligns with that rather than deviating from it.

07:00Senator Blunt, Rochester.

07:04Thank you, Chair Cruz and Ranking Member Cantwell.

07:07And thank you both to Mr. Mader and Mr. Kratios for being here.

07:14I'd like to start with a few questions for Mr. Mader.

07:17I appreciated our meeting yesterday and we discussed protecting consumers is at the heart

'The Single Greatest Threat To Free Speech': Ted Cruz Presses Trump Nom On 'Big Tech Censorship'

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