Jordan invites UK's Nigel Farage to House Judiciary panel's free speech hearing

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has invited Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage to the panel's free speech hearing next week.

The hearing, titled "Europe’s Threat to American Speech and Innovation," will be on Wednesday at 10 am ET.

"The hearing will examine European threats to American free speech and innovation," according to the House Judiciary Committee.

"It will highlight how European online censorship laws -- specifically the United Kingdom's (UK) Online Safety Act (OSA) and the European Union's (EU) Digital Services Act (DSA) -- threaten Americans' right to speak freely online in the United States. Additionally, it will explain how the UK's Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC) and the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) target American companies and hurt innovation."

The hearing comes after President Donald Trump threatened this week to hit nations with additional tariffs if they do not remove their digital taxes, arguing they are detrimental to U.S. tech products and companies, The Hill reported. 

“As the President of the United States, I will stand up to Countries that attack our incredible American Tech Companies. Digital Taxes, Digital Services Legislation, and Digital Markets Regulations are all designed to harm, or discriminate against, American Technology,” Trump said on Monday. 

The UK’s Online Safety Act of 2023 is purported to protect users, including children, from harmful content. The law's provisions for age verification went into effect last month, limiting various content such as hate speech, pornography, and videos depicting violence. UK users were then required to submit their photos and IDs to show they are of age to consume the content. 

Farage has been critical of the law, saying last month that it was already altering consumers’ feeds. 

“Millions of people have noticed what they’re getting on their feeds is different to what it was just last week. It begins to look as though state suppression of genuine free speech may be upon us already,” Farage said.

Jordan also invited former European Commissioner for Internal Markets Thierry Breton to attend the hearing.