Safeguarding Internet Freedom in Hong Kong Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 860 To develop and deploy firewall circumvention tools for the people of Hong Kong after the People’s Republic of China violated its agreement under the Joint Declaration, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 18, 2021 Mr. LANKFORD (for himself and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To develop and deploy firewall circumvention tools for the people of Hong Kong after the People’s Republic of China violated its agreement under the Joint Declara- tion, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safeguarding Internet 4 Freedom in Hong Kong Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:46 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S860.IS S860 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 860 IS (1) The People’s Republic of China has repeat- 1 edly violated its obligations under the Joint Declara- 2 tion by suppressing the basic rights and freedoms of 3 Hongkongers. 4 (2) On June 30, 2020 the National People’s 5 Congress passed a ‘‘National Security Law’’ that 6 further erodes Hong Kong’s autonomy and enables 7 authorities to suppress dissent. 8 (3) The Government of the People’s Republic of 9 China continues to utilize the National Security Law 10 to undermine the fundamental rights of the Hong 11 Kong people through suppression of the freedom of 12 speech, assembly, religion, and the press. 13 (4) Article 9 of the National Security Law au- 14 thorizes unprecedented regulation and supervision of 15 internet activity in Hong Kong, including expanded 16 police powers to force internet service providers to 17 censor content, hand over user information, and 18 block access to platforms. 19 (5) On January 13, 2021, the Hong Kong 20 Broadband Network blocked public access to 21 HKChronicles, a website promoting pro-democracy 22 viewpoints, under the authorities of the National Se- 23 curity Law. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:46 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S860.IS S860 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 860 IS (6) On January 28, 2021, the Hong Kong 1 Internet Registration Corporation Limited enacted a 2 revised ‘‘acceptable use’’ policy that enables authori- 3 ties to require the rejection of website registration 4 requests that may ‘‘incite ‘illegal acts’ ’’. 5 (7) On February 4, 2021, Carrie Lam ex- 6 pressed support for implementing additional laws to 7 increase internet censorship. 8 (8) On February 12, 2021, internet service pro- 9 viders blocked access to the Taiwan Transitional 10 Justice Commission website in Hong Kong. 11 (9) Major tech companies including Facebook, 12 Twitter, WhatsApp and Google have stopped review- 13 ing requests for user data from Hong Kong authori- 14 ties. 15 (10) On February 28, 2021, 47 pro-democracy 16 activists in Hong Kong were arrested charged under 17 the National Security Law on the charge of ‘‘con- 18 spiracy to commit subversion’’. 19 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 20 It is the sense of Congress that the United States 21 should— 22 (1) support the ability of the people of Hong 23 Kong to maintain their freedom to access informa- 24 tion online; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:46 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S860.IS S860 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 860 IS (2) focus on investments in technologies that 1 facilitate the unhindered exchange of information in 2 Hong Kong in advance of any future efforts by the 3 Chinese Communist Party— 4 (A) to suppress internet access; 5 (B) to increase online censorship; or 6 (C) to inhibit online communication and 7 content-sharing by the people of Hong Kong. 8 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 9 In this Act: 10 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 11 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 12 mittees’’ means— 13 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 14 the Senate; 15 (B) the Committee on Appropriations of 16 the Senate; 17 (C) the Select Committee on Intelligence of 18 the Senate; 19 (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 20 the House of Representatives; 21 (E) the Committee on Appropriations of 22 the House of Representatives; and 23 (F) the Permanent Select Committee on 24 Intelligence of the House of Representatives. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:46 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S860.IS S860 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 860 IS (2) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.—The term 1 ‘‘interagency working group’’ means— 2 (A) the Under Secretary of State for Civil- 3 ian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights; 4 (B) the Assistant Secretary of State for 5 East Asian and Pacific Affairs; 6 (C) the Chief Executive Officer of the 7 Open Technology Fund; and 8 (D) the Administrator of the United States 9 Agency for International Development. 10 (3) JOINT DECLARATION.—The term ‘‘Joint 11 Declaration’’ means the Joint Declaration of the 12 Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain 13 and Northern Ireland and the Government of the 14 People’s Republic of China on the Question of Hong 15 Kong, done at Beijing on December 19, 1984. 16 SEC. 5. HONG KONG INTERNET FREEDOM PROGRAM. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State is author- 18 ized to establish an interagency working group to develop 19 a strategy to bolster internet resiliency and online access 20 in Hong Kong. The Secretary shall establish a Hong Kong 21 Internet Freedom Program in the Bureau of Democracy, 22 Human Rights, and Labor at the Department of State. 23 Additionally, the Chief Executive Officer of the Open 24 Technology Fund is authorized to establish a Hong Kong 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:46 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S860.IS S860 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 860 IS Internet Freedom Program. These programs shall operate 1 independently, but in strategic coordination with other en- 2 tities in the interagency working group. 3 (b) INDEPENDENCE.—During the period beginning 4 on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on 5 September 30, 2023, the Program shall be carried out 6 independent from the mainland China internet freedom 7 portfolios in order to focus on supporting liberties pres- 8 ently enjoyed by the people of Hong Kong. 9 (c) CONSOLIDATION OF DEPARTMENT OF STATE 10 PROGRAM.—Beginning on October 1, 2023, the Secretary 11 of State may— 12 (1) consolidate the Program with the mainland 13 China initiatives in the Bureau of Democracy, 14 Human Rights, and Labor; or 15 (2) continue to carry out the Program in ac- 16 cordance with subsection (b). 17 (d) CONSOLIDATION OF OPEN TECHNOLOGY FUND 18 PROGRAM.—Beginning on October 1, 2023, the CEO of 19 the Open Technology Fund may— 20 (1) consolidate the Program with the mainland 21 China initiatives in the Open Technology Fund; or 22 (2) continue to carry out the Program in ac- 23 cordance with subsection (b). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:46 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S860.IS S860 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 860 IS SEC. 6. SUPPORT FOR INFORMATION PROGRAMS. 1 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, 3 working through the Open Technology Fund and the 4 Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, is 5 authorized to award grants to private organizations 6 to support and develop programs in Hong Kong that 7 promote or expand— 8 (A) online information access; 9 (B) freedom of the press; 10 (C) disruptive technologies that bypass 11 internet blocking, filtering, and other censorship 12 techniques; 13 (D) virtual private networks; 14 (E) firewall circumvention tools; 15 (F) distributed denial of service mitigation 16 techniques; 17 (G) digital security capacity building for 18 internet users; or 19 (H) digital resiliency for international or- 20 ganizations, pro-democracy activists, and other 21 civil society actors in Hong Kong, including 22 emergency support. 23 (2) GOALS.—The goals of the programs devel- 24 oped with grants authorized under paragraph (1) 25 should be— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:46 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S860.IS S860 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 860 IS (A) to make the technologies described in 1 paragraph (1) available in Hong Kong; 2 (B) to increase the number of the tools in 3 the circumvention technology portfolio; 4 (C) to promote the availability of such 5 technologies and tools in Hong Kong; 6 (D) to encourage the adoption of such 7 technologies and tools by the people of Hong 8 Kong; 9 (E) to scale up the distribution of such 10 technologies and tools throughout Hong Kong; 11 (F) to prioritize the development of tools, 12 components, code, and technologies that are 13 fully open source, to the extent practicable; 14 (G) to conduct research on repressive tac- 15 tics that undermine internet freedom in Hong 16 Kong; and 17 (H) to engage American private industry, 18 including e-commerce firms and social net- 19 working companies, on the importance of pre- 20 serving internet access in Hong Kong. 21 (3) GRANT RECIPIENTS.—Grants authorized 22 under this subsection shall be distributed to multiple 23 vendors and suppliers through an open, fair, com- 24 petitive, and evidence-based decision process— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:46 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S860.IS S860 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 860 IS (A) to diversify the technical base; and 1 (B) to reduce the risk of mitigation by bad 2 actors. 3 (4) SECURITY AUDITS.—New technologies de- 4 veloped using grants from this subsection shall un- 5 dergo comprehensive security audits to ensure that 6 such technologies are secure and have not been com- 7 promised in a manner detrimental to the interests of 8 the United States or to individuals or organizations 9 benefitting from programs supported by the Open 10 Technology Fund. 11 (b) FUNDING SOURCE.—The Secretary of State is 12 authorized to expend funds from the Human Rights and 13 Democracy Fund of the Bureau of Democracy, Human 14 Rights, and Labor of the Department of State during fis- 15 cal year 2020 for grants authorized under subsection (a) 16 at any entity in the interagency working group. 17 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 18 (1) OPEN TECHNOLOGY FUND.—In addition to 19 the funds authorized to be expended pursuant to 20 subsection (b), there are authorized to be appro- 21 priated to the Open Technology Fund $5,000,000 22 for each of the fiscal years 2021 through 2023 to 23 carry out this section. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:46 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S860.IS S860 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 860 IS (2) BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, 1 AND LABOR.—In addition to the funds authorized to 2 be expended pursuant to subsection (b), there are 3 authorized to be appropriated to the Office of Inter- 4 net Freedom Programs in the Bureau of Democracy, 5 Human Rights, and Labor of the Department of 6 State $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2021 7 through 2023 to carry out this section. 8 (3) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pur- 9 suant to paragraphs (1) and (2) shall remain avail- 10 able until expended. 11 SEC. 7. STRATEGIC PLANNING REPORT. 12 Not later than 120 days after the date of the enact- 13 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State and the inter- 14 agency working group shall submit a classified report to 15 the appropriate congressional committees that— 16 (1) describes the Federal Government’s plan to 17 bolster and increase the availability of firewall cir- 18 cumvention technology in Hong Kong during fiscal 19 year 2021, including— 20 (A) secure private messaging tools; 21 (B) secure file storage and sharing plat- 22 forms; 23 (C) virtual private networks; 24 (D) satellite internet; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:46 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S860.IS S860 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 860 IS (E) proxies; 1 (F) refraction routing; 2 (G) pluggable transports; and 3 (H) other secure communication mecha- 4 nisms and anti-censorship technologies; 5 (2) outlines a plan for— 6 (A) supporting the preservation of an 7 open, interoperable, reliable, and secure internet 8 in Hong Kong; 9 (B) increasing the supply of the technology 10 referred to in paragraph (1); 11 (C) accelerating the dissemination of such 12 technology; 13 (D) promoting the availability of such 14 technology in Hong Kong; 15 (E) utilizing presently available tools in the 16 mainland China portfolio for further use in the 17 unique context of Hong Kong; 18 (F) expanding the portfolio of tools in 19 order to diversify and strengthen the effective- 20 ness and resiliency of the circumvention efforts; 21 and 22 (G) providing training for high-risk groups 23 and individuals in Hong Kong; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:46 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S860.IS S860 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 860 IS (3) includes a detailed description of the tech- 1 nical and fiscal steps necessary to implement the 2 plans referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2), includ- 3 ing an analysis of the market conditions in Hong 4 Kong; 5 (4) describes the Federal Government’s plans 6 for awarding grants to private organizations for the 7 purposes described in section 6(a)(1); 8 (5) outlines the interagency working group’s 9 consultations regarding the implementation of this 10 Act to ensure that all Federal efforts are aligned 11 and well coordinated; and 12 (6) outlines the Department of State’s strategy 13 to influence global internet legal standards at inter- 14 national organizations and multilateral fora. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:46 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S860.IS S860 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS