Foreign governments are filing criminal charges against American citizens for speech that is perfectly legal in the United States.
America is fighting back – and for the first time, the fight has real teeth.
There is one proven way to stop foreign censors cold and Congress already has the bill to do it.
France Just Filed Criminal Charges Against Elon Musk for Free Speech
French prosecutors escalated their probe of Elon Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino into a full criminal investigation last week.
The charges: criminal liability for decisions made running an American website under American law.
X is being targeted because it allows wrong think on its platform like discussion about the dangers of mass migration in Europe.
Every charge targets conduct that is legal in the United States.
Musk and Yaccarino were summoned to Paris on April 20. Both declined. France said their absence would not slow the investigation.
In April, the DOJ refused France's formal request for cooperation and put it in writing – the probe was an attempt to "regulate a public square for the free expression of ideas and opinions in a manner contrary to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution."
France kept going anyway.
The DOJ response was exactly right. A strongly worded letter from one administration is not a permanent solution.
The GRANITE Act Is the First Amendment Shield Congress Needs to Pass
Wyoming state Rep. Daniel Singh introduced the Guaranteeing Rights Against Novel International Tyranny and Extortion Act in January.
It passed the Wyoming House 57-5 on introduction, sailed through the Judiciary Committee 6-2-1, and passed the full House floor 46-12.
It ran out of time in the short budget session before the Senate could act.
West Virginia introduced its own version – Senate Bill 923 – in February.
New Hampshire has had a team working on its own version for months.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan confirmed Congress is considering federal action.
Senator Eric Schmitt announced he is drafting federal censorship shield legislation of his own.
State Department Under Secretary Sarah Rogers confirmed in January that a federal version was on the verge of introduction in both chambers.
This is a legislative movement – and it is accelerating.
How the GRANITE Act Makes Foreign Governments Pay $1 Million Per Violation
The GRANITE framework does four things.
First, a civil liability shield blocking enforcement of foreign censorship orders on U.S. soil.
Second, a flat prohibition on U.S. government cooperation with any foreign censorship order targeting speech protected by the First Amendment.
Third, a complete bar on extradition for conduct the First Amendment protects.
Fourth – the one that changes the math permanently – a private cause of action against any foreign sovereign that targets an American for protected speech, with statutory damages of $1 million per violation or the maximum threatened foreign fine, whichever is higher.
Try to criminally charge an American executive for legal speech?
That'll be a million dollars.
Minimum.
Payable in a U.S. court.
Protection of American rights goes to trial lawyers rather than diplomats.
No phone calls to Washington required.
Why Jim Jordan and Eric Schmitt Know Trade Deals Won't Stop Foreign Censorship
The Trump administration has been fighting foreign censorship with trade leverage and visa bans – Secretary Rubio imposed visa bans on former EU Commissioner Thierry Breton and four other European officials for participating in what he called a "global censorship-industrial complex."
Those tools work right up until they don't.
A visa policy reverses with a new Secretary of State.
A trade concession gets sacrificed when the next negotiation needs a win on something else.
An executive action expires the moment a future administration decides the fight isn't worth the diplomatic friction.
A federal statute cannot be traded away in a Brussels negotiating room.
No phone calls to Washington required.
That is the difference between a weapon and a preference.
The EU Digital Services Act Is Expanding and the Midterm Window Is Closing
France is not an isolated case.
Brazil's Supreme Court has ordered American platforms to censor user accounts.
The UK's Ofcom has threatened American website managers with fines and imprisonment for content perfectly legal in the United States.
The EU's Digital Services Act is a global censorship mechanism dressed in regulatory language – and Brussels intends to keep expanding its reach.
Congress has the draft legislation. Congress has the political alignment. Congress has a DOJ that already put the First Amendment argument in writing to a foreign government.
The states figured this out before Washington did – which is embarrassing, but fixable.
Pass the federal GRANITE Act and every Brussels bureaucrat, every French investigative judge, every UK regulator who thinks they can silence an American faces the same choice: back off, or write a very large check to an American trial lawyer.
That is how you end foreign censorship – not with a strongly worded letter, but with consequences they can feel in their bank accounts.
Sources:
- "French Prosecutors Escalate Probe of Elon Musk and X to Criminal Investigation," CNBC, May 7, 2026.
- "Elon Musk Faces Criminal Probe in France as Prosecutors Escalate X's AI Investigation," Euronews, May 8, 2026.
- Preston Byrne, "Congress Must Introduce a Federal GRANITE Act," Back of the Envelope, May 10, 2026.
- "Wyoming Lawmakers Introduce GRANITE Act Aimed at Blocking Foreign Censorship of U.S. Speech," YourNews, February 9, 2026.
- "New Hampshire Revives Speech Shield Bill as Congress Targets EU Censorship Pressure," Reclaim the Net, February 8, 2026.
- "What Congress Can Learn From the GRANITE Act," R Street Institute, March 4, 2026.
- "Wyoming's GRANITE Act Hints at Global Speech Battle to Come," TechPolicy.Press, March 3, 2026.
