No Social Media Accounts for Terrorists or State Sponsors of Terrorism Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1543 To provide authorities to prohibit the provision of services by social media platforms to certain individuals and entities on the Specially Designated Nationals List and senior officials of governments of a state sponsor of terrorism. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 3, 2021 Mr. BARR (for himself, Mr. BANKS, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. WALTZ, Mr. MOONEY, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mr. POSEY, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina, Mr. KELLY of Mis- sissippi, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. TURNER, Mr. JACKSON, Mr. KELLER, Mr. CARL, Mr. ROSE, Mr. TIFFANY, Mrs. MCCLAIN, Mr. BABIN, Mr. STEIL, Mr. BOST, Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. JACOBS of New York, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. LOUDERMILK, Mr. DUNN, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. CLYDE, Mr. CAWTHORN, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. MCKINLEY, Ms. TENNEY, Mr. PFLUGER, Mr. MANN, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. BUDD, Mrs. CAMMACK, Mr. ROY, Mr. GOODEN of Texas, and Mr. LAMALFA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To provide authorities to prohibit the provision of services by social media platforms to certain individuals and enti- ties on the Specially Designated Nationals List and sen- ior officials of governments of a state sponsor of ter- rorism. 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 20:20 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1543.IH H1543 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1543 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Social Media Ac- 2 counts for Terrorists or State Sponsors of Terrorism Act 3 of 2021’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5 Congress finds the following: 6 (1) Despite having one of his Twitter accounts 7 suspended, the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah 8 Ali Khamanei, a Specially Designated Global Ter- 9 rorist by the Department of the Treasury, and the 10 leader of the world’s leading State Sponsor of Ter- 11 rorism, has multiple social media accounts on Twit- 12 ter and Instagram. The Supreme Leader has used 13 his accounts to threaten violence against Americans, 14 support the destruction of the State of Israel, pro- 15 mote conspiracy theories and disinformation regard- 16 ing COVID–19 vaccines, and incite anti-Semitism on 17 a number of occasions. 18 (2) The Foreign Minister of Iran, Javad Zarif, 19 a senior official of a State Sponsor of Terrorism, has 20 a number of social media accounts on Twitter, 21 Instagram, and other platforms. On January 2, 22 2021, Zarif tweeted an anti-Semitic conspiracy the- 23 ory that Israel was plotting attacks on Americans in 24 Iraq. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1543.IH H1543 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1543 IH (3) The President of the Syria, Bashar al- 1 Assad, responsible for the brutal killing of half a 2 million of his own people, and the President of a 3 State Sponsor of Terrorism, has multiple social 4 media accounts on Twitter and Instagram. He has 5 used his accounts on social media to whitewash and 6 promote his regime, and promote hatred against the 7 United States and Israel. 8 (4) The President of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel, 9 who heads a regime responsible for multiple gross 10 violations of human rights, and which is a State 11 Sponsor of Terrorism, has an account on Twitter 12 representing the official Cuban Presidency. He has 13 used his account on social media to promote global 14 communism, anti-Americanism, and whitewash the 15 Cuban regime’s human rights abuses. 16 (5) Terrorist organizations and entities sanc- 17 tioned for terrorism under Executive Order 13224, 18 including the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard 19 Corps (IRGC), Hezbollah, Kata’ib Hezbollah, 20 Hamas, and Asa’ib ahl al-Haq, have a number of so- 21 cial media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, 22 Instagram, and YouTube. 23 (6) Social media platforms make a profit on ac- 24 counts provided and maintained to individuals and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1543.IH H1543 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1543 IH entities sanctioned for terrorism through the sale of 1 advertisements which are viewed by such sanctioned 2 individuals through their accounts. 3 (7) Economic sanctions prohibiting the provi- 4 sion of services to individuals and entities sanctioned 5 for terrorism should apply to social media platforms, 6 while still supporting the free flow of information 7 and maintaining the important principle that infor- 8 mation should remain free of sanctions. 9 SEC. 3. AUTHORITIES TO PROHIBIT THE PROVISION OF 10 SERVICES BY SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS TO 11 CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS AND ENTITIES ON 12 THE SPECIALLY DESIGNATED NATIONALS 13 LIST AND SENIOR OFFICIALS OF GOVERN- 14 MENTS OF A STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM. 15 (a) AUTHORITIES UNDER THE INTERNATIONAL 16 EMERGENCY ECONOMIC POWERS ACT.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 203 of the Inter- 18 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 19 U.S.C. 1702) is amended— 20 (A) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub- 21 section (d); and 22 (B) by inserting after subsection (b) the 23 following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1543.IH H1543 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1543 IH ‘‘(c)(1) Notwithstanding subsection (b) and except as 1 provided in paragraph (2), the authority granted to the 2 President by this section does include the authority to reg- 3 ulate or prohibit the provision by a provider of a social 4 media platform of a covered service to— 5 ‘‘(A) an individual or entity who, pursuant to 6 the exercise of authorities under part 594 of title 31, 7 Code of Federal Regulations, is on the list of spe- 8 cially designated nationals and blocked persons 9 maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control 10 of the Department of the Treasury, if such provider 11 knew or should have known that such individual or 12 entity was on such list and that such provider was 13 providing such service to such individual or entity; 14 or 15 ‘‘(B) an individual who is a senior official of a 16 government of a state sponsor of terrorism, if such 17 provider knew or should have known that such indi- 18 vidual was such a senior official and that such pro- 19 vider was providing such service to such individual. 20 ‘‘(2) The authority granted to the President by this 21 section does not include the authority to regulate or pro- 22 hibit the provision by a provider of a social media platform 23 of a covered service to an individual who is a senior official 24 of a government of a state sponsor of terrorism described 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1543.IH H1543 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1543 IH in paragraph (1)(B) solely for legitimate emergency alert 1 purposes. 2 ‘‘(3) In this subsection— 3 ‘‘(A) the term ‘covered service’— 4 ‘‘(i) means, with respect to a provider of a 5 social media platform, any service provided by 6 the provider through the platform, including a 7 service that is publicly available and free of 8 charge (including permitting an individual or 9 entity to create or maintain an account or pro- 10 file); and 11 ‘‘(ii) does not include the ability of an indi- 12 vidual or entity to— 13 ‘‘(I) access the platform without an 14 account or profile; or 15 ‘‘(II) send or receive private commu- 16 nications on the platform; 17 ‘‘(B) the term ‘social media platform’— 18 ‘‘(i) means a website or other internet me- 19 dium, including a mobile application, that— 20 ‘‘(I) permits an individual or entity to 21 create an account or profile for the pur- 22 pose of generating, sharing, and viewing 23 user-generated content through such ac- 24 count or profile; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1543.IH H1543 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1543 IH ‘‘(II) enables one or more users to 1 generate content that can be viewed by 2 other users of the medium; and 3 ‘‘(III) enables users to view content 4 generated by other users of the medium; 5 and 6 ‘‘(ii) does not include— 7 ‘‘(I) any such website or other inter- 8 net medium that serves fewer than 9 100,000 users who access their account or 10 profile at least once a month; 11 ‘‘(II) an email program, email dis- 12 tribution list, or multi-person text message 13 group; 14 ‘‘(III) a website or other internet me- 15 dium that is primarily for the purpose of 16 internet commerce; 17 ‘‘(IV) a software application (includ- 18 ing a mobile application) used solely to 19 communicate with others through instant 20 messages, audio calls, video calls, or any 21 combination thereof; or 22 ‘‘(V) a website or other internet me- 23 dium the primary purpose of which is— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1543.IH H1543 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1543 IH ‘‘(aa) to allow users to post prod- 1 uct reviews, business reviews, or travel 2 information and reviews; or 3 ‘‘(bb) to provide emergency alert 4 services; 5 ‘‘(C) the term ‘senior official’, with respect to 6 the government of a state sponsor of terrorism, 7 means— 8 ‘‘(i) the head of state; 9 ‘‘(ii) the head of government; 10 ‘‘(iii) the Supreme Leader; 11 ‘‘(iv) a member of the cabinet; 12 ‘‘(v) any other high ranking official in the 13 defense, security, or foreign affairs apparatus of 14 the government; or 15 ‘‘(vi) any other official which the President 16 determines to be a ‘senior official’ for purposes 17 of this subparagraph; and 18 ‘‘(D) the term ‘state sponsor of terrorism’ 19 means a country the government of which the Sec- 20 retary of State determines has repeatedly provided 21 support for international terrorism pursuant to— 22 ‘‘(i) section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export 23 Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 24 4318(c)(1)(A)); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1543.IH H1543 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1543 IH ‘‘(ii) section 620A of the Foreign Assist- 1 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371); 2 ‘‘(iii) section 40 of the Arms Export Con- 3 trol Act (22 U.S.C. 2780); or 4 ‘‘(iv) any other provision of law.’’. 5 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 6 by this subsection shall take effect on the date that 7 is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 8 Act. 9 (b) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 12 President shall, except as provided in paragraph (2), 13 prohibit the provision by a provider of a social media 14 platform of a covered service to— 15 (A) an individual or entity who, pursuant 16 to the exercise of authorities under part 594 of 17 title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, is on the 18 list of specially designated nationals and 19 blocked persons maintained by the Office of 20 Foreign Assets Control of the Department of 21 the Treasury, if such provider knew or should 22 have known that such individual or entity was 23 on such list and that such provider was pro- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1543.IH H1543 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1543 IH viding such service to such individual or entity; 1 or 2 (B) an individual who is a senior official of 3 a government of a state sponsor of terrorism, if 4 such provider knew or should have known that 5 such individual was such a senior official and 6 that such provider was providing such service to 7 such individual. 8 (2) EXCEPTION.—The authority granted to the 9 President by this subsection does not include the au- 10 thority to regulate or prohibit the provision by a pro- 11 vider of a social media platform of a covered service 12 to an individual who is a senior official of a govern- 13 ment of a state sponsor of terrorism described in 14 paragraph (1)(B) solely for legitimate emergency 15 alert purposes. 16 (3) WAIVER.—The President may waive the 17 prohibition required by this subsection with respect 18 to an individual or entity if the President certifies to 19 the appropriate congressional committees that such 20 a waiver is in the national security interests of the 21 United States. 22 (4) PENALTIES.—The penalties provided for in 23 subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the Inter- 24 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1543.IH H1543 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1543 IH U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to a person that violates, 1 attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 2 violation of regulations promulgated to carry out 3 this subsection or the sanctions imposed pursuant to 4 this subsection to the same extent that such pen- 5 alties apply to a person that commits an unlawful 6 act described in section 206(a) of that Act. 7 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 8 gress that— 9 (1) the Department of the Treasury and the 10 Department of State should encourage the free flow 11 of information in Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, 12 and other countries controlled by authoritarian re- 13 gimes in order to counter such regimes’ repression 14 of their peoples; and 15 (2) in order to facilitate the free flow of infor- 16 mation in such countries, in implementing this Act 17 and the amendments made by this Act, the Depart- 18 ment of Treasury should ensure that consumer com- 19 munication technologies, as well as tools to cir- 20 cumvent government censorship, are available to civil 21 society and democratic activists in such countries. 22 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 23 or any amendment made by this Act— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1543.IH H1543 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1543 IH (1) may be construed to restrict the ability of 1 the general populations of Iran, Syria, North Korea, 2 Cuba, and other countries controlled by authori- 3 tarian regimes to create or maintain accounts or 4 profiles on social media platforms for individuals or 5 entities not listed in paragraph (1) of subsection (c) 6 of the International Emergency Economic Powers 7 Act (50 U.S.C. 1702), as added by subsection (a) of 8 this section; and 9 (2) may be construed to restrict or prohibit pri- 10 vate communications. 11 (e) REPORT.—Not later than one year afte [Text truncated for display. 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