Combating Online Wildlife Trafficking Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1546 To amend the Eliminate, Neutralize, and Disrupt Wildlife Trafficking Act of 2016 to direct the Presidential Task Force on Wildlife Trafficking to develop recommendations to address wildlife trafficking on the internet and on social media, and to direct the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development to develop a strategy to address wildlife trafficking on the internet and on social media, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 3, 2021 Mr. CARTER of Georgia (for himself and Mr. GARAMENDI) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con- cerned A BILL To amend the Eliminate, Neutralize, and Disrupt Wildlife Trafficking Act of 2016 to direct the Presidential Task Force on Wildlife Trafficking to develop recommenda- tions to address wildlife trafficking on the internet and on social media, and to direct the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development to develop a strategy to ad- dress wildlife trafficking on the internet and on social media, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1546.IH H1546 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1546 IH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be referred to as the ‘‘Combating On- 4 line Wildlife Trafficking Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. COMBATING WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING. 6 (a) TASK FORCE.—The Eliminate, Neutralize, and 7 Disrupt Wildlife Trafficking Act of 2016 (16 U.S.C. 7601 8 et seq.) is amended— 9 (1) in section 301 (16 U.S.C. 7631)— 10 (A) in subsection (d)— 11 (i) in paragraph (4) by striking ‘‘and’’ 12 at the end; 13 (ii) in paragraph (5) by striking the 14 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 15 and 16 (iii) by adding at the end the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘(6) recommendations for how the Task Force 19 can expand cooperative exchanges with technology 20 and social media companies to combat wildlife traf- 21 ficking on the internet, including recommendations 22 for— 23 ‘‘(A) identifying how wildlife is trafficked 24 on internet sites and platforms; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1546.IH H1546 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1546 IH ‘‘(B) methods for technology companies to 1 assist Federal agencies and international part- 2 ners to combat wildlife trafficking; 3 ‘‘(C) methods to improve public-private re- 4 lationships with technology and internet compa- 5 nies to combat wildlife trafficking; and 6 ‘‘(D) identifying correlations between wild- 7 life trafficking and the spread of zoonotic dis- 8 eases.’’; 9 (B) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub- 10 section (f); and 11 (C) by inserting after subsection (d) the 12 following: 13 ‘‘(e) TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORKING 14 GROUP.— 15 ‘‘(1) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force shall 16 form a Technology and Social Media Working 17 Group, which shall be composed of such members of 18 the Task Force as the Task Force determines appro- 19 priate and a representative of the Chairman of the 20 Federal Communications Commission, as designated 21 by such Chairman. 22 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—Such Technology and Social 23 Media Working Group shall work to address ongoing 24 concerns with wildlife trafficking on the internet. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1546.IH H1546 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1546 IH ‘‘(3) MEETINGS.—Such Technology and Social 1 Media Working Group shall convene at least once 2 each year.’’; 3 (D) in subsection (f) (as redesignated in 4 subparagraph (B)), by striking ‘‘shall terminate 5 5 years after the date of the enactment of this 6 Act’’ and inserting ‘‘shall terminate on October 7 7, 2026’’; and 8 (2) in section 402 (16 U.S.C. 7642), by adding 9 at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(c) INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA.—The Secretary 11 of State and the Administrator of the United States Agen- 12 cy for International Development, in collaboration with 13 other relevant United States agencies, nongovernmental 14 partners, private sector companies, and international bod- 15 ies, shall develop a strategy for engaging and partnering 16 with internet and social media companies to combat the 17 spread of wildlife trafficking on the internet.’’. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1546.IH H1546 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS