Israeli Tech CEO Shlomo Kramer Calls on US to Limit First Amendment Rights

Israeli billionaire tech entrepreneur and co-founder of Cato Networks Shlomo Kramer argued on Monday’s episode of CNBC’s “Money Movers” that governments must restrict free speech in the age of AI.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday, weeks after a senior Israeli defense official warned that the world would soon face its first cyber war. This meeting between Trump and Netanyahu comes amid growing debate in some conservative circles over the extent of American support for Israel and the direction of American foreign policy in the Middle East. Netanyahu called social media the new weapon of the modern age.

“How is AI cyberwar shaping geopolitics today?” CNBC host Sara Eisen asked Kramer.

Kramer pointed out that artificial intelligence was already revolutionizing cyberwarfare, from critical infrastructure to the social and political fabric, arguing that it was undermining it. He claimed this gives authoritarian governments an unfair advantage over democratic countries. Kramer then made a suggestion that quickly went viral on social media as supporters of the speech warned of the slippery slope that would lead to government censorship.

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“You’re seeing polarization in countries that allow the First Amendment and protect it, which is great. And I know it’s hard to hear, but it’s time to limit the First Amendment in order to protect it,” he said. “And quickly before it’s too late.”

When asked what he meant by that, Kramer advocated government control of social media.

“I mean we need to control the platforms, all the social platforms. We need to stack up, rank the authenticity of every person who speaks online and take control of what they say, based on that ranking,” he said.

Eisen asked him to affirm that he was indeed asking the government to do so.

“The government should, yes,” Kramer said. “They should do it. And we need to educate people against the lies. And governments need to develop cyber defense programs as sophisticated as an under attack. Today, it’s a ratio of 1 to 100. And in reality, governments aren’t doing it today, anyway, and companies are left to their own devices.”

“Technology is evolving much faster than the political system can generally respond to it,” noted CNBC host David Faber.

“So you have to use technology to stabilize the political system,” Kramer replied. “And we have to make adjustments that may not be popular, but necessary.”

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Kramer went on to say that companies like his can provide the solutions needed for this changing landscape.

Faber said China is using AI at the state level to control its population and that while the United States is indeed in a race against them, Americans are not interested in government regulation at the state level.

“And that’s a big mistake, because if China has a single narrative that protects its domestic stability and the United States allows multiple narratives, that gives it an unfair advantage that in the long run is going to cost the nation’s stability,” Kramer said. “So changes need to be made.”

Eisen noted that if such changes were implemented, people condemn them as censorship. Kramer, however, argued that what is happening online constitutes a “completely new threat” that must be addressed.

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Excerpts from Kramer’s interview quickly went viral on social media as free speech advocates condemned the idea of ​​restricting the First Amendment.

“No. Have we not learned that unbridled state power inevitably becomes brutal? Start by limiting the First Amendment and within two years we will face arbitrary arrests, forced confessions, show trials, transportation to camps, forced labor, starvation and psychological breakdown. Basically the heat of collectivism,” conservative leader Andrew Gruel said on X, appearing to reference a recent speech by the mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani.

The Red-Haired Libertarian, a popular commenter, responded to the clip saying, “This looks like a bunch of communist gibberish.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Kramer for comment, and he has not yet responded as of publication time.