Israeli tech billionaire urges Americans to limit the First Amendment | Latest Tech News
Shlomo Kramer, the co-founder and CEO of cybersecurity firm Cato Networks, sparked outrage online after he urged Americans to “limit the First Amendment” — arguing that democratic nations must reply to rising risks by controlling online speech before it’s “too late.”
Kramer, a serial entrepreneur who helped discovered Check Point Software and Imperva, told CNBC that artificial intelligence has given authoritarian governments an “unfair advantage” over democracies that defend free expression.
“I know it’s difficult to hear, but it’s time to limit the First Amendment in order to protect it,” Kramer said during the interview.
Shlomo Kramer, the co-founder and CEO of cybersecurity firm Cato Networks, sparked outrage online after he urged Americans to “limit the First Amendment.” CNBC
He argued that unrestricted speech on social media platforms is fueling polarization and permitting hostile actors to undermine “the fabric of society and politics.”
According to Kramer, governments and technology corporations ought to take direct control of online platforms and decide who is allowed to communicate — and how a lot affect their speech ought to carry.
“We need to control the platforms, all the social platforms,” Kramer said.
He proposed a system that would “stack, rank, the authenticity of every person that expresses themselves online,” with speech privileges decided by that rating.
Based on that system, Kramer said authorities ought to “take control over what they are saying.”
Kramer framed the proposal as an emergency response to quickly advancing AI instruments that can generate pretend content quicker than governments can regulate them.
“The technology is moving much faster than the political system typically can respond,” he said, arguing that technological controls are needed to “stabilize the political system.”
Kramer contrasted the US with China, which he said maintains “a single narrative that protects its inner stability,” while democratic nations enable a number of narratives that might be exploited by adversaries.
Israeli billionaire Shlomo Kramer’s New Year’s decision is to eradicate America’s First Amendment.
“I know it’s difficult to hear, but it’s time to limit the First Amendment in order to protect it.” pic.twitter.com/dOmb7DuLb1
— Chris Menahan 🇺🇸 (@infolibnews) January 2, 2026
Genuine thanks to Israeli billionaire Shlomo Kramer for stating so explicitly and unflinchingly what so many other top Israelis and their US loyalists are saying, albeit a bit more subtly:
Americans must be taught to settle for limits on our First Amendment rights: https://t.co/HZrtKtlgON
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 2, 2026
Kramer’s remarks ignited an speedy backlash on X, where customers accused him of selling censorship and meddling in US constitutional rights.
One widely shared post from the account Wall Street Mav said, “Foreigners have zero business telling us anything,” alongside a clip of Kramer’s interview.
Another post labeled Kramer an “Israeli billionaire” pushing for Americans to give up their First Amendment rights, while critics framed his proposals as indistinguishable from China’s system of state-controlled speech.
The account “The General” wrote that Kramer’s feedback amounted to a call to “eliminate America’s First Amendment,” branding him a “tyrant” and invoking a quote attributed to Thomas Jefferson warning that assaults on a free press signal authoritarian rule.
🚨🚨🚨
Foreigners have zero business telling us something.
🇮🇱 Israeli billionaire Shlomo Kramer:
“it’s time to limit the First Amendment. We need to control all the social platforms, we need to authenticate every person online and take control of what they are saying.” pic.twitter.com/vwXG2wD8f5
— Wall Street Mav (@WallStreetMav) January 2, 2026
Others rejected the framing outright. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) responded merely, “No,” while reposting a declare that Kramer was calling for speech limits to fight antisemitism.
Several customers pointed to Kramer’s comparability of the US to China, accusing him of endorsing a single-state narrative enforced by authorities energy.
🚨Foreign Israeli billionaire Shlomo Kramer’s who cannot communicate English correctly says his New Year’s decision is to eradicate America’s First Amendment.
Our founding fathers called him a TYRANT.
“When the speech condemns a free press, you are hearing the words of a tyrant” -… pic.twitter.com/TCmY5rPapU
— The General (@1776General_) January 2, 2026
Kramer didn’t reply publicly to the social media criticism.
Kramer didn’t call for abolishing the Constitution outright but repeatedly argued that constitutional protections must be restricted in order to survive in the age of AI warfare.
He said governments must also construct cyber protection applications “as sophisticated as the sub-attack,” noting that the current imbalance between attackers and defenders is “1 to 100.”
Until governments act, Kramer said, personal corporations are being pressured to fend for themselves by shopping for more and more costly cybersecurity instruments.
Enterprises “can’t afford all these solutions by themselves,” he said, pushing instead for platform-based security fashions supplied by companies like Cato Networks, CrowdStrike and Wiz.
Kramer told The Post that his remarks have been taken out of context and that he’s a supporter of the First Amendment.
He said his intent was to fight disinformation and online “operations [that] leverage anonymity and non-human actors to drown out authentic voices and tear at the social fabric of Western democracies.”
“The goal is not to limit the speech of individuals, but to ensure that the public square remains a place for transparent, human debate, protected from the corrosive impact of covert digital manipulation,” Kramer told The Post.
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