FADE Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 337 To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to clarify the applica- tion to informational materials posted on online platforms by agents of foreign principals of the disclaimer requirements applicable under such Act to informational materials transmitted by agents of foreign principals through the United States mails, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 15, 2021 Ms. SPANBERGER (for herself and Mr. KATKO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to clarify the application to informational materials post- ed on online platforms by agents of foreign principals of the disclaimer requirements applicable under such Act to informational materials transmitted by agents of for- eign principals through the United States mails, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H337.IH H337 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 337 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign Agent Dis- 2 claimer Enhancement Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘FADE Act 3 of 2021’’. 4 SEC. 2. DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR MATERIALS 5 POSTED ON ONLINE PLATFORMS BY AGENTS 6 OF FOREIGN PRINCIPALS ON BEHALF OF CLI- 7 ENTS. 8 (a) METHOD AND FORM OF DISCLAIMER; PRESERVA- 9 TION OF DISCLAIMERS BY CERTAIN SOCIAL MEDIA PLAT- 10 FORMS.— 11 (1) REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—Section 4(b) 12 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as 13 amended (22 U.S.C. 614(b)) is amended— 14 (A) by striking ‘‘(b) It shall be unlawful’’ 15 and inserting ‘‘(b)(1) It shall be unlawful’’; and 16 (B) by adding at the end the following new 17 paragraph: 18 ‘‘(2) In the case of informational materials for or in 19 the interests of a foreign principal which are transmitted 20 or caused to be transmitted by an agent of a foreign prin- 21 cipal by posting on an online platform, the agent shall en- 22 sure that the conspicuous statement required to be placed 23 in such materials under this subsection is placed directly 24 with the material posted on the platform and is not acces- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H337.IH H337 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 337 IH sible only through a hyperlink or other reference to an- 1 other source. 2 ‘‘(3) If the Attorney General determines that the ap- 3 plication of paragraph (2) to materials posted on an online 4 platform is not feasible because the length of the con- 5 spicuous statement required to be placed in materials 6 under this subsection makes the inclusion of the entire 7 statement incompatible with the posting of the materials 8 on that platform, an agent may meet the requirements of 9 paragraph (2) by ensuring that an abbreviated version of 10 the statement, stating that the materials are distributed 11 by a foreign agent on behalf of a clearly identified foreign 12 principal, is placed directly with the material posted on 13 the platform. 14 ‘‘(4) An online platform on which informational mate- 15 rials described in paragraph (2) are posted shall ensure 16 that the conspicuous statement described in such para- 17 graph (or, if applicable, the abbreviated statement de- 18 scribed in paragraph (3)) is maintained with such mate- 19 rials at all times, including after the material is shared 20 in a social media post on the platform, but only if the 21 platform has 50,000,000 or more unique monthly United 22 States visitors or users for a majority of months during 23 the 12 months preceding the dissemination of the mate- 24 rials.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H337.IH H337 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 337 IH (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 1 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to mate- 2 rials disseminated on or after the expiration of the 3 60-day period which begins on the date of the enact- 4 ment of this Act, without regard to whether or not 5 the Attorney General has promulgated regulations to 6 carry out such amendments prior to the expiration 7 of such period. 8 (b) APPLICATION OF REQUIREMENTS TO PERSONS 9 OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4(b)(1) of such Act 11 (22 U.S.C. 614(b)(1)), as amended by subsection 12 (a), is amended by striking ‘‘any person within the 13 United States’’ and inserting ‘‘any person’’. 14 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 15 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to mate- 16 rials disseminated on or after the expiration of the 17 60-day period which begins on the date of the enact- 18 ment of this Act, without regard to whether or not 19 the Attorney General has promulgated regulations to 20 carry out such amendments prior to the expiration 21 of such period. 22 (c) REQUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE PLATFORMS DIS- 23 SEMINATING INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS TRANSMITTED 24 BY AGENTS OF FOREIGN PRINCIPALS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H337.IH H337 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 337 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of such Act (22 1 U.S.C. 614) is amended by adding at the end the 2 following new subsection: 3 ‘‘(g) If the Attorney General determines that an 4 agent of a foreign principal transmitted or caused to be 5 transmitted informational materials on an online platform 6 for or in the interests of the foreign principal and did not 7 meet the requirements of subsection (b)(2) (relating to the 8 conspicuous statement required to be placed in such mate- 9 rials)— 10 ‘‘(1) the Attorney General shall notify the on- 11 line platform; and 12 ‘‘(2) the online platform shall remove such ma- 13 terials and use reasonable efforts to inform recipi- 14 ents of such materials that the materials were dis- 15 seminated by a foreign agent on behalf of a foreign 16 principal.’’. 17 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 18 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to mate- 19 rials disseminated on or after the expiration of the 20 60-day period which begins on the date of the enact- 21 ment of this Act. 22 (d) DEFINITION.—Section 1 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 23 611) is amended by inserting after subsection (i) the fol- 24 lowing new subsection: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H337.IH H337 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 337 IH ‘‘(j) The term ‘online platform’ means any public-fac- 1 ing website, web application, or digital application (includ- 2 ing a social network, ad network, or search engine).’’. 3 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUALS 4 WHO ENGAGE WITH THE UNITED STATES IN 5 POLITICAL ACTIVITIES FOR A FOREIGN PRIN- 6 CIPAL IN ANY PLACE AS AGENTS OF FOREIGN 7 PRINCIPALS. 8 Section 1(c)(1)(i) of the Foreign Agents Registration 9 Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 611(c)(1)(i)) is 10 amended by inserting after ‘‘United States’’ the following: 11 ‘‘(whether within or outside of the United States)’’. 12 SEC. 4. ANALYSIS AND REPORT ON CHALLENGES TO EN- 13 FORCEMENT OF FOREIGN AGENTS REG- 14 ISTRATION ACT OF 1938. 15 (a) ANALYSIS.—The Attorney General shall conduct 16 an analysis of the legal, policy, and procedural challenges 17 to the effective enforcement of the Foreign Agents Reg- 18 istration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.). 19 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 20 of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 21 submit to Congress a report on the analysis conducted 22 under subsection (a), and shall include in the report such 23 recommendations, including recommendations for revi- 24 sions to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H337.IH H337 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 337 IH the Attorney General considers appropriate to promote the 1 effective enforcement of such Act. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Feb 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H337.IH H337 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS