Pass the GRANITE Act and Keep Foreign Censorship Out of U.S. Courts
The Issue
Foreign governments should not be able to use American courts to enforce censorship laws that would violate the First Amendment here at home.
That sounds like something that should already be obvious, but there is not currently a clear federal rule stopping certain foreign censorship judgments from being recognized or enforced in the United States.
That is what the GRANITE Act, H.R. 10174, is trying to fix.
You can read the full bill on Congress.gov here:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/10174/text
The bill would prevent U.S. courts from recognizing or enforcing a foreign judgment, fine, order, or demand that is based on a foreign censorship law and conflicts with the protections of the First Amendment.
The bill specifically covers foreign laws that restrict or penalize expression, target speech based on its content, viewpoint, or who is speaking, or compel disclosures that could reasonably chill lawful expression.
It would also give an American person or company targeted by one of these foreign actions the ability to go to federal court and seek a declaration that the judgment, fine, order, or demand cannot be enforced in the United States.
This does not mean other countries cannot make their own laws or regulate speech within their own borders. It means the American court system should not become the enforcement arm for foreign censorship laws that are incompatible with our Constitution.
This is becoming increasingly important as American companies, platforms, creators, journalists, and ordinary people communicate with audiences around the world. Different countries have very different standards for what people are allowed to say online, and those standards should not be imported into the United States through foreign court judgments.
The First Amendment should not stop protecting Americans because another government has a different definition of lawful speech.
Congress should pass the GRANITE Act and make it clear that foreign censorship laws that conflict with the First Amendment cannot be enforced through American courts.
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The Issue
Foreign governments should not be able to use American courts to enforce censorship laws that would violate the First Amendment here at home.
That sounds like something that should already be obvious, but there is not currently a clear federal rule stopping certain foreign censorship judgments from being recognized or enforced in the United States.
That is what the GRANITE Act, H.R. 10174, is trying to fix.
You can read the full bill on Congress.gov here:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/10174/text
The bill would prevent U.S. courts from recognizing or enforcing a foreign judgment, fine, order, or demand that is based on a foreign censorship law and conflicts with the protections of the First Amendment.
The bill specifically covers foreign laws that restrict or penalize expression, target speech based on its content, viewpoint, or who is speaking, or compel disclosures that could reasonably chill lawful expression.
It would also give an American person or company targeted by one of these foreign actions the ability to go to federal court and seek a declaration that the judgment, fine, order, or demand cannot be enforced in the United States.
This does not mean other countries cannot make their own laws or regulate speech within their own borders. It means the American court system should not become the enforcement arm for foreign censorship laws that are incompatible with our Constitution.
This is becoming increasingly important as American companies, platforms, creators, journalists, and ordinary people communicate with audiences around the world. Different countries have very different standards for what people are allowed to say online, and those standards should not be imported into the United States through foreign court judgments.
The First Amendment should not stop protecting Americans because another government has a different definition of lawful speech.
Congress should pass the GRANITE Act and make it clear that foreign censorship laws that conflict with the First Amendment cannot be enforced through American courts.
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Petition created on September 2, 2026