What This Bill Does
This bill prohibits federal employees from censoring lawful speech while acting in an official capacity. It also prevents federal employees from urging private companies to censor lawful speech. The bill creates rules for when federal employees can take action against unlawful speech for law enforcement reasons.
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Who It Affects
- Federal employees working for any federal agency
- Senior government officials appointed by the President
- White House Office staff
- Private companies and internet platforms
- Congress and federal inspectors general
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Key Provisions
- Federal employees cannot use their official authority to censor any private company, even during off-duty hours and away from their workplace (Sec. 2, Section 7382(a)(1))
- Federal employees cannot engage in censorship while on duty, in government buildings, wearing official uniforms, using government vehicles, or using government information systems (Sec. 2, Section 7382(a)(2))
- Agencies must report to Congress and the Office of Special Counsel within 72 hours before taking censorship action for law enforcement purposes, except for child exploitation, human trafficking, or controlled substances cases (Sec. 2, Section 7382(b)(2))
- Employees who violate this rule face removal from their job, pay reduction, suspension, or a civil fine (Sec. 2, Section 7382(c)(1))
- Senior government officials face higher civil fines for violations (Sec. 2, Section 7382(c)(2))
- Each federal agency must provide mandatory annual training on this prohibition to all employees (Sec. 2, Section 7382(f))
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What Changes
If this bill becomes law, federal employees will be legally prohibited from working with private companies to remove, suppress, or add warnings to lawful speech online. Agencies must report most censorship actions to Congress before taking them. Employees who violate these rules can lose their jobs or face fines. Federal agencies must train all employees annually on these new requirements. The Office of Special Counsel gains authority to enforce these rules.
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Important Definitions
- **Censor or censorship:** Influencing, coercing, or directing others to influence or coerce the removal or suppression of lawful speech from websites; adding disclaimers or warnings to lawful speech on websites; or removing or restricting someone's access to public websites unless they are engaged in unlawful speech or criminal activity (Sec. 2, Section 7382(g)(1))
- **Lawful speech:** Speech protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (Sec. 2, Section 7382(g)(4))
- **Unlawful speech:** Speech not protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (Sec. 2, Section 7382(g)(5))
- **Interactive computer service:** Not explicitly defined in this bill; the bill references the definition in the Communications Act of 1934 (Sec. 2, Section 7382(g)(3))
- **Employee:** Not explicitly defined in this bill; the bill references the definition in an existing federal statute (Sec. 2, Section 7382(g)(2))
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Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
IIB
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 140
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 14, 2023
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs
AN ACT
To amend title 5, United States Code, to prohibit Federal
employees from advocating for censorship of viewpoints
in their official capacity, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Speech
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from Government Interference Act’’.
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SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL EMPLOYEE CENSOR-
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SHIP.
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(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 73 of title 5, United
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States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
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lowing:
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‘‘SUBCHAPTER VIII—PROHIBITION ON
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FEDERAL EMPLOYEE CENSORSHIP
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‘‘§ 7381. Policy regarding Federal employee censor-
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ship
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‘‘It is the policy of the Congress that employees act-
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ing in their official capacity should neither take action
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within their authority or influence to promote the censor-
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ship of any lawful speech, nor advocate that a third party,
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including a private entity, censor such speech.
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‘‘§ 7382. Prohibition on Federal employee censorship
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‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An employee may not—
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‘‘(1) use the employee’s official authority to
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censor any private entity, including outside of nor-
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mal duty hours and while such employee is away
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from the employee’s normal duty post; or
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‘‘(2) engage in censorship of a private entity—
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‘‘(A) while the employee is on duty;
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‘‘(B) in any room or building occupied in
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the discharge of official duties by an individual
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employed or holding office in the Government of
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the United States or any agency or instrumen-
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tality thereof;
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‘‘(C) while wearing a uniform or official in-
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signia identifying the office or position of the
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employee;
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‘‘(D) while using any vehicle owned or
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leased by the Government of the United States
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or any agency or instrumentality thereof; or
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‘‘(E) while using any information system
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or information technology (as defined under
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section 11101 of title 40).
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‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT FUNC-
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TIONS AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—
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‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Nothing in this section
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shall be construed to prohibit an employee from en-
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gaging in lawful actions against unlawful speech
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within the official authority of such employee for the
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purpose of exercising legitimate law enforcement
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functions.
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‘‘(2) REPORTING.—
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 72
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hours before an employee exercises a legitimate
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law enforcement function under paragraph (1)
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to take any action to censor any unlawful
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speech (in this paragraph referred to as a ‘cen-
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sorship action’), and consistent with subpara-
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graph (D), the head of the agency that employs
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the employee shall submit, to the Office of Spe-
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cial Counsel and the chair and ranking member
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of the committees of Congress described under
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subparagraph (B), a report that includes—
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‘‘(i) an overview of the action, or ac-
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tions, to be taken, including a summary of
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the action being taken and the rationale
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for why a censorship action is necessary;
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‘‘(ii) the name of the entity which the
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action is being requested of;
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‘‘(iii) the person and entity targeted
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by the censorship action, including the as-
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sociated name or number of any account
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used or maintained by the entity and a de-
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scription of the specific speech content tar-
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geted;
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‘‘(iv) the agency’s legal authority for
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exercising the law enforcement function;
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‘‘(v) the agency employee or employ-
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ees involved in the censorship action, in-
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cluding their position and any direct super-
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visor;
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‘‘(vi) a list of other agencies that have
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been involved, consulted, or communicated
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with in coordination with the censorship
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action; and
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‘‘(vii) a classified annex, if the agency
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head deems it appropriate.
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‘‘(B) COMMITTEES.—The committees of
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Congress described under this subparagraph are
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the following:
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‘‘(i) The Committee on Oversight and
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Accountability, the Committee on the Judi-
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ciary, the Permanent Select Committee on
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Intelligence, and the Committee on Energy
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and Commerce of the House of Represent-
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atives.
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‘‘(ii) The Committee on Homeland Se-
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curity and Governmental Affairs, the Com-
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mittee on the Judiciary, Select Committee
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on Intelligence, and the Committee on
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Commerce, Science, and Transportation of
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the Senate.
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‘‘(C) CLARIFICATION OF OFFICE OF SPE-
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CIAL COUNSEL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—
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The reporting requirements in this paragraph
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do not apply to the Office of Special Counsel’s
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advisory and enforcement functions under sub-
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chapter II of chapter 12.
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‘‘(D) REPORTING
REQUIREMENTS
FOR
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CERTAIN ACTIONS.—
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‘‘(i) Any censorship action relating to
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combating child pornography and exploi-
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tation, human trafficking, or the illegal
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transporting of or transacting in controlled
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substances shall be exempt from the re-
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porting requirement under this paragraph.
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‘‘(ii) With respect to any censorship
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action related to safeguarding, or pre-
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venting the unlawful dissemination of,
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properly classified national security infor-
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mation, subparagraph (A) shall be applied
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by substituting ‘Not later than 72 hours
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after’ for ‘Not later than 72 hours before’.
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‘‘(c) PENALTIES.—
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An employee who violates
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this section shall be subject to—
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‘‘(A) disciplinary action consisting of re-
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moval, reduction in grade, debarment from
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Federal employment for a period not to exceed
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10 years, suspension, or reprimand;
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‘‘(B) an assessment of a civil penalty not
3
to exceed $1,000; or
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‘‘(C) any combination of the penalties de-
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scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B).
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‘‘(2) APPLICATION
TO
SENIOR
GOVERNMENT
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OFFICIALS.—Paragraph (1)(B) shall be applied by
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substituting ‘$50,000’ for ‘$1,000’ for any employee
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who is—
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‘‘(A) paid from an appropriation for the
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White House Office; or
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‘‘(B) appointed by the President, by and
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with the advice and consent of the Senate.
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‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT.—
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
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graph (2) and subsection (c)(2), this section shall be
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enforced in the same manner as subchapter III of
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this chapter.
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‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—Notwithstanding any other
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provision of law, including section 1215(b), the Spe-
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cial Counsel may, in lieu of sending a report to the
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President under section 1215(b), seek civil monetary
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penalties under subsection (c)(2) pursuant to section
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1215(a). This paragraph shall not be construed to
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limit or otherwise affect the President’s authority to
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enforce any disciplinary action against an employee
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described under subsection (c)(2).
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‘‘(e) REPORT.—
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 240 days
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after the date of the enactment of this section, and
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annually thereafter, the Attorney General, in con-
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sultation with the Assistant Attorney General for
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Civil Rights and the Office of Special Counsel, shall
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submit to the committees of Congress described in
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subsection (b)(2)(B) a report evaluating the compli-
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ance by the Federal Government with this section,
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including a description of any action by the head of
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an agency or department in the executive branch
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to—
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‘‘(A) consult with any third parties about
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censorship by employees in the executive
17
branch; or
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‘‘(B) engage in any activity prohibited
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under this section.
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‘‘(2) SUNSET.—This subsection shall terminate
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on the date that is 10 years after the date of the
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enactment of this subsection.
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‘‘(f) ANNUAL TRAINING.—Not less than annually, the
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head of each employing agency shall provide mandatory
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training on this section and the requirements of this sec-
1
tion to each agency employee.
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‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this subchapter—
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‘‘(1) the term ‘censor’ or ‘censorship’ means in-
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fluencing or coercing, or directing another to influ-
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ence or coerce, for—
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‘‘(A) the removal or suppression of lawful
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speech, in whole or in part, from or on any
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interactive computer service;
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‘‘(B) the addition of any disclaimer, infor-
10
mation, or other alert to lawful speech being ex-
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pressed on an interactive computer service; or
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‘‘(C) the removal or restriction of access of
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any person or entity on an interactive computer
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service generally available to the public, unless
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such person or entity is engaged in unlawful
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speech or criminal activities on such service;
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‘‘(2) the term ‘employee’ has the meaning given
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that term in section 7322;
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‘‘(3) the term ‘interactive computer service’ has
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the meaning given that term in section 230(f) of the
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Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f));
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‘‘(4) the term ‘lawful speech’ means speech pro-
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tected by the First Amendment of the Constitution;
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and
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‘‘(5) the term ‘unlawful speech’ means speech
1
not protected by the First Amendment of the Con-
2
stitution.’’.
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(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections
4
for chapter 73 of title 5, United States Code, is amended
5
by adding at the end the following:
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‘‘SUBCHAPTER VIII—PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL EMPLOYEE CENSORSHIP
‘‘7381. Policy regarding Federal employee censorship.
‘‘7382. Prohibition on Federal employee censorship.’’.
(c) INCLUDING CENSORSHIP ACTIVITIES UNDER JU-
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RISDICTION OF OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL.—Strike
8
paragraph (1) of section 1216(a) of title 5, United States
9
Code, and insert the following:
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‘‘(1) political activity and censorship prohibited
11
under subchapter III and subchapter VIII of chapter
12
73, relating to political and censorship activities, re-
13
spectively, by Federal employees;’’.
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(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act
15
or any amendment made by this Act should be interpreted
16
as prohibiting a lawful action by a Federal agency to en-
17
force a Federal law or regulation (including any action to
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enforce a Federal law or regulation addressing obscene
19
matters), to establish or enforce the terms and conditions
20
of Federal financial assistance, or to prohibit a Federal
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employee from using an official Federal account on an
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interactive computer service to communicate an official
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policy position, and relevant information, to the public, or
1
provide information through normal press and public af-
2
fairs relations.
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(e) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act or
4
any amendment made by this Act, or the application of
5
a provision of this Act or an amendment made by this
6
Act to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconsti-
7
tutional, the remainder of this Act, and the application
8
of the provisions to any person or circumstance, shall not
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be affected by the holding.
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SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.
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The Congress finds that inspectors general should not
12
less than annually for the next seven years publicly report
13
the number of complaints and tips received, the number
14
of investigations opened, and statistics on how investiga-
15
tions were managed and their disposition by that inspector
16
general related to compliance with this Act and the
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amendments made by this Act.
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Passed the House of Representatives March 9,
2023.
Attest:
CHERYL L. JOHNSON,
Clerk.
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