No, Congress is not voting on a bill that would make questioning events surrounding 9/11 terror attacks a crime

On Sept. 11, 2001, two planes hijacked by al-Qaida suicide bombers crashed into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in New York City. Another hijacked plane hit the Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C. and a fourth plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. A total of 2,977 people were killed in the attacks. 

Conspiracy theories about the attacks have spread online over the last two decades. VERIFY has fact-checked some of the more popular theories. 

Recent social media posts claim Congress is working on passing legislation that would actually criminalize questioning  the events around the Sept. 11 attacks. 

“CONGRESS is to vote on a bill that will make questioning the 9/11 narrative a CRIMINAL OFFENCE [sic],” one X post with thousands of views says.

Several X posts include a screenshot of what appears to be a New York Post article with the headline “CONGRESS TO VOTE ON BILL THAT WOULD CRIMINALIZE QUESTIONING THE EVENTS SURROUNDING 9/11”

The full text of the supposed New York Post screenshot says: “With strong support from AIPAC [The American Israel Public Affairs Committee] and the ADL [Anti-Defamation League], Congress is set to vote on a bill that would criminalize any questioning of the events that took place during the September 11th attacks. The bill calls for fines up to $10,000 and 5 years imprisonment of anyone who questions or challenges the official narrative. The ADL states that this bill ‘seeks to honor the memory of all those who died and quell the spread of harmful conspiracy theories.’”

THE QUESTION

Is Congress set to vote on a bill that would make questioning the events surrounding 9/11 a crime?

THE SOURCES

• A search of recent legislation in Congress
• A search of the New York Post’s website and social media channels
• The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)
• Aziz Z. Huq, a constitutional law professor at The University of Chicago

THE ANSWER

No, Congress is not set to vote on a bill that would make questioning 9/11 a crime. There is no such legislation and the purported New York Post screenshot being shared is fake. 

WHAT WE FOUND

Claims that Congress is voting on a bill that would criminalize questioning the events surrounding Sept. 11 are false.

All legislation that is introduced in Congress is recorded in an official online database. VERIFY searched the database for keywords such as “9/11,” “September 11” and “Sept. 11” and found no bill has been introduced that would penalize someone from questioning the events around Sept. 11. 

The New York Post screenshot being shared is fake. No article with that headline exists on the New York Post website or across any of the Post’s social media channels. The fake screenshot seems to be a manipulation of an article published about Harvey Weinstein, whose rape conviction in New York was recently overturned.

The byline and publication timestamp – “By Ben Kochman, Craig McCarthy, Vaughn Golden and Katherine Donlevy Published April 26, 2024, 9:25 p.m. ET” – are the same in the screenshot and in the real New York Post article. 

VERIFY reached out to the New York Post and the Post’s parent company, NewsCorp, as well as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), for comment on the image and did not hear back by the time of publication.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), one of the organizations referenced in the fake screenshot, also confirmed to VERIFY that claims they are connected to the supposed legislation are “not true.” The organization says they “have not supported such legislation.”

Aziz Huq, a constitutional law professor at The University of Chicago, told VERIFY in an email that even if such legislation was introduced, it would likely be a violation of the First Amendment, which guarantees the right to free speech.

The full account of the events that unfolded on Sept. 11 was published in a 600-page report called The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission on July 22, 2004.

Christopher Kojm, the deputy director of the 9/11 Commission, said the commission was established by Congress “to determine the facts and circumstances of the 9/11 attacks, and to make recommendations to make the country safer.”