Last week, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing titled “Shut Your App: How Uncle Sam Jawboned Big Tech Into Silencing Americans.” It was one of the more eye-opening discussions on how government influence and Big Tech power have combined to chill free expression—especially for Christian and conservative media voices.
Witnesses like journalist, Alex Berenson, and Federalist CEO, Sean Davis, detailed how the Biden Administration and its allies pressured social-media platforms to silence dissenting views on COVID policies, vaccines, and the 2020 election. Both described a culture of back-channel “jawboning” where federal officials quietly pushed tech companies to remove or throttle content they didn’t like.
For Christian communicators, this growing pattern highlights a sobering reality: many of the same digital tools that have enabled ministries, broadcasters, and faith-based organizations to reach millions are vulnerable to political or ideological pressure. What serves as an open mission field for the Gospel is also a monitored and sometimes manipulated space, where the terms of engagement can change overnight.
Several senators called for new transparency laws and even a private right of action allowing citizens to hold government officials accountable for coercive censorship. Regardless of the party, the takeaway for our community is simple: no administration should ever tie license status to content. Such overreach not only threatens journalistic independence—it also strikes at the heart of religious liberty, which protects ministries, broadcasters, and podcasters who speak truth grounded in Scripture.
They also raised the issue of programmatic ad discrimination, where so-called “brand safety” filters quietly defund faith-based or political outlets. These automated systems—often driven by opaque algorithms—can label biblical content as “controversial” or “unsafe for advertisers,” cutting off essential revenue streams for ministries and Christian media outlets. The hearing also touched on media consolidation and AI, warning both could amplify censorship through concentrated control or biased algorithms.
For many NRB members, this was a timely reminder. Our voices matter, and they’re being tested. Christian communicators are called to steward the platforms they have with courage and discernment, even in an age of digital gatekeeping. NRB will continue fighting to ensure every platform, broadcast or digital, remains open to proclaiming Biblical truth and preserving America’s free marketplace of ideas.
Watch the full hearing here:
Shut Your App: How Uncle Sam Jawboned Big Tech Into Silencing Americans.