What This Bill Does
This bill directs the President to create and publish a list of social media platforms (called apps or websites where users share content) that are controlled by or under the influence of certain foreign governments. Once a platform is listed, the President must block its financial assets in the United States and the Federal Communications Commission must prevent app stores and internet service providers from offering access to these platforms.
Who It Affects
- The President of the United States
- Foreign social media companies and their employees
- App store operators in the United States
- Internet service providers operating in the United States
- Foreign nationals working for listed social media entities
- People who work as agents for listed entities
Key Provisions
- The President must publish a list of untrustworthy social media entities within 90 days of the bill becoming law and update it annually, including any platform controlled by a foreign government or foreign entity of concern that has altered content or shared user data under foreign influence (Sec. 3)
- Within 30 days of each list publication, the President must block all property and financial interests of listed entities located in the United States (Sec. 4)
- App stores operating in the United States must remove apps owned by listed social media entities within one year of the first list publication (Sec. 5)
- Internet service providers must prevent access to websites of listed social media entities within one year of the first list publication (Sec. 5)
- Foreign nationals employed by listed entities become ineligible for certain work visas permanently and other visas for three years after they leave the company or it is removed from the list (Sec. 6)
What Changes
If this becomes law, the President gains authority to identify and publicly list social media platforms he determines are controlled by or influenced by foreign governments. These platforms would be removed from U.S. app stores and blocked from access through U.S. internet service providers. Their bank accounts and assets in America would be frozen. Foreign workers at these companies would lose their ability to obtain work visas, though they could try for other visas after leaving employment.
Important Definitions
- App: A software application or electronic service that runs on a computer, mobile device, or other computing device
- App store: A publicly available website or service that distributes apps to users
- Social media entity: A company that owns or operates a website or app where the main purpose is not selling products, making video games, reporting news, or providing business information, and allows users to post and share text, images, videos and other content
- Covered nation: A term defined elsewhere in federal law (section 4872 of title 10, United States Code)
- Foreign entity of concern: The government, military, or ruling political party of a covered nation; any company owned or controlled by such a government; any company organized under the laws of a covered nation; or any company acting on behalf of these entities
- Foreign person: Any individual or company that is not a United States person
- United States person: A U.S. citizen, a permanent resident, or a company organized under U.S. law
Effective Date
The President must publish the first list within 90 days of the bill becoming law. App stores and internet service providers have one year from the first list publication to comply with removal rules.
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 872
To identify social media entities under the influence of certain foreign entities
and to take measures to protect the United States from such entities,
and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 16, 2023
Mr. COTTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
A BILL
To identify social media entities under the influence of cer-
tain foreign entities and to take measures to protect
the United States from such entities, and for other pur-
poses.
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 ‘‘Stopping Attempts by
4
Foreign Entities to Target Youths on Social Media Act
5
Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘SAFETY on Social Media Act of
6
2023’’.
7
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•S 872 IS
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
1
In this Act:
2
(1) APP.—The term ‘‘app’’ means a software
3
application or electronic service that may be run or
4
directed by a user on a computer, a mobile device,
5
or any other general purpose computing device.
6
(2) APP STORE.—The term ‘‘app store’’ means
7
a publicly available website, software application, or
8
other electronic service that distributes apps from
9
third-party developers to users of a computer, a mo-
10
bile device, or any other general purpose computing
11
device.
12
(3) COVERED NATION.—The term ‘‘covered na-
13
tion’’ has the meaning given that term in section
14
4872 of title 10, United States Code.
15
(4) FOREIGN ENTITY OF CONCERN.—The term
16
‘‘foreign entity of concern’’ means—
17
(A) the government, Armed Forces, or rul-
18
ing party of a covered nation;
19
(B) any entity that is owned or controlled,
20
directly or indirectly, by the government, Armed
21
Forces, or ruling party of a covered nation;
22
(C) any entity that is organized under the
23
laws of, or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction
24
of, the government of a covered nation; or
25
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•S 872 IS
(D) any entity acting on behalf of an enti-
1
ty described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C).
2
(5) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per-
3
son’’ means any individual or entity that is not a
4
United States person.
5
(6) SOCIAL MEDIA ENTITY.—The term ‘‘social
6
media entity’’ means any entity that—
7
(A) owns or operates, directly or indirectly,
8
an app or website, the primary or sole purpose
9
of which is not—
10
(i) to conduct commercial trans-
11
actions;
12
(ii) to make video games available for
13
play by users;
14
(iii) to report news; or
15
(iv) to provide other kinds of informa-
16
tion concerning businesses, products, or
17
travel information; and
18
(B) allows users of the app or website to
19
publish and distribute to the public or to other
20
users text, images, videos, and other forms of
21
media content.
22
(7)
UNITED
STATES
PERSON.—The
term
23
‘‘United States person’’ means—
24
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•S 872 IS
(A) a United States citizen or an alien law-
1
fully admitted for permanent residence to the
2
United States; or
3
(B) an entity organized under the laws of
4
the United States or of any jurisdiction within
5
the United States, including a foreign branch of
6
such an entity.
7
SEC. 3. LIST OF UNTRUSTWORTHY APPLICATIONS AND SO-
8
CIAL MEDIA ENTITIES.
9
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the
10
date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter,
11
the President shall publish and submit to Congress a list
12
of untrustworthy applications and social media entities (in
13
this Act referred to as the ‘‘List’’), which shall include
14
all entities that meet the criteria described in subsection
15
(b).
16
(b) CRITERIA FOR LIST.—The President shall include
17
on the List any social media entity that—
18
(1) is a foreign person;
19
(2) owns or controls, is directly or indirectly
20
owned or controlled by, or is under common owner-
21
ship or control with a foreign entity of concern;
22
(3)(A) as a result of the influence of a foreign
23
entity of concern—
24
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•S 872 IS
(i) has altered the content of an app or
1
website owned or operated by the social media
2
entity to comply with the request of, or to ad-
3
vance the interests of, a foreign entity of con-
4
cern; or
5
(ii) has shared the data of United States
6
persons with a foreign entity of concern; or
7
(B) may be compelled by a foreign entity of
8
concern—
9
(i) to alter the content of an app or
10
website owned or operated by the social media
11
entity; or
12
(ii) to share the data of United States per-
13
sons with a foreign entity of concern; and
14
(4) had, in at least one month in the 12-month
15
period preceding submission of the report, more
16
than—
17
(A) 1,000,000 active monthly users; or
18
(B) 1,000,000 downloads.
19
SEC. 4. BLOCKING OF PROPERTY OF LISTED ENTITIES.
20
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after each
21
publication of the List under section 3, the President shall
22
exercise all of the powers granted to the President under
23
the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50
24
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary to block and
25
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•S 872 IS
prohibit all transactions in property and interests in prop-
1
erty of each entity on the List if such property and inter-
2
ests in property are in the United States, come within the
3
United States, or are or come within the possession or
4
control of a United States person.
5
(b) INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN IEEPA PROVI-
6
SIONS.—For purposes of subsection (a), the following pro-
7
visions of the International Emergency Economic Powers
8
Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) shall not apply:
9
(1) The requirement under section 202(b) (50
10
U.S.C. 1701(b)) to declare a national emergency.
11
(2) The exceptions under section 203(b) of that
12
Act (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)).
13
(c) IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES.—
14
(1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may ex-
15
ercise the authorities provided to the President
16
under sections 203 and 205 of the International
17
Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702
18
and 1704) to the extent necessary to carry out this
19
section.
20
(2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at-
21
tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a
22
violation of subsection (a) or any regulation, license,
23
or order issued to carry out that subsection shall be
24
subject to the penalties set forth in subsections (b)
25
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•S 872 IS
and (c) of section 206 of the International Emer-
1
gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the
2
same extent as a person that commits an unlawful
3
act described in subsection (a) of that section.
4
SEC. 5. HALTING OPERATIONS OF LISTED ENTITIES.
5
(a) REMOVAL FROM APP STORES.—After the first
6
publication of the List under section 3 and not later than
7
1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
8
Federal Communications Commission (referred to in this
9
section as the ‘‘Commission’’) shall prescribe a rule pro-
10
hibiting any entity that owns, controls, or operates an app
11
store in the United States from carrying or supporting in
12
the app store in the United States an app or website
13
owned or operated by a social media entity that is on the
14
List.
15
(b) INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS.—
16
(1) IN GENERAL.—After the first publication of
17
the List under section 3 and not later than 1 year
18
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
19
Commission shall prescribe a rule requiring each
20
internet service provider to ensure that the internet
21
service of the provider cannot be used to access the
22
website of any social media entity on the List.
23
(2) LIABILITY PROTECTION.—An internet serv-
24
ice provider shall not be liable under the rule pre-
25
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•S 872 IS
scribed under paragraph (1) for access to the
1
website of a social media entity on the List that is
2
obtained through the use of a virtual private net-
3
work.
4
(c) ENFORCEMENT.—The Commission may impose a
5
forfeiture penalty under section 503 of the Communica-
6
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 503) on any person who vio-
7
lates a rule prescribed under this section.
8
(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
9
tion may be construed to give the Commission the author-
10
ity to carry out any action under subsection (a) or (b)
11
with respect to any entity that is not on the List.
12
SEC. 6. COUNTERMEASURES AGAINST EMPLOYEES OF LIST-
13
ED ENTITIES.
14
(a) VISA INELIGIBILITY.—Beginning on the date that
15
is 30 days after an entity is first included on the List—
16
(1) any foreign person employed by such entity
17
on or after such date of first inclusion who is a na-
18
tional of a covered nation—
19
(A) shall be permanently ineligible to be
20
issued or to retain a nonimmigrant visa under
21
section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the Immigration
22
and
Nationality
Act
(8
U.S.C.
23
1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b)); and
24
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•S 872 IS
(B) shall be ineligible to be issued or to re-
1
tain any other visa authorizing entry into the
2
United States until the date that is 3 years
3
after the date on which—
4
(i) such foreign person terminates his
5
or her employment with such entity; or
6
(ii) such entity is removed from the
7
List; and
8
(2) any foreign person employed by such entity
9
on or after such date of first inclusion who is not
10
a national of a covered nation shall be ineligible to
11
be issued or to retain any visa authorizing entry into
12
the United States until the date that is 3 years after
13
the date on which—
14
(A) such foreign person terminates his or
15
her employment with such entity; or
16
(B) such entity is removed from the List.
17
(b) FOREIGN AGENT REGISTRATION REQUIRED.—
18
(1) REGISTRATION.—Section 1(b) of the For-
19
eign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended
20
(22 U.S.C. 611(b)) is amended—
21
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘; and’’
22
and inserting a semicolon;
23
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe-
24
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
25
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•S 872 IS
(C) by adding at the end the following:
1
‘‘(4) an entity on the list of untrustworthy ap-
2
plications and social media entities under section 3
3
of the Stopping Attempts by Foreign Entities to
4
Target Youths on Social Media Act Act of 2023.’’.
5
(2) CESSATION OF EMPLOYMENT.—Section 2 of
6
the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as
7
amended (22 U.S.C. 612) is amended by adding at
8
the end the following:
9
‘‘(e) AGENTS
OF
ENTITIES
LISTED
IN
THE
10
UNTRUSTWORTHY APPLICATIONS
AND SOCIAL MEDIA
11
ENTITIES LIST.—Any individual who ceases employment
12
as an agent of a foreign principal that is an entity on the
13
list of untrustworthy applications and social media entities
14
under section 3 of the Stopping Attempts by Foreign Enti-
15
ties to Target Youths on Social Media Act Act of 2023
16
shall, during the 2-year period beginning on the date on
17
which the individual ceases such employment with the for-
18
eign principal—
19
‘‘(1) continue to register as an agent of a for-
20
eign principal; and
21
‘‘(2) be subject to the penalties under section 8
22
of this Act.’’.
23
Æ
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