Raising the Bar Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5209 To direct the Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland Security to design and administer a voluntary online ter- rorist content moderation exercise program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 21, 2019 Mr. ROSE of New York (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Miss RICE of New York, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. PAYNE, and Ms. SLOTKIN) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Homeland Security A BILL To direct the Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland Security to design and administer a voluntary online terrorist content modera- tion exercise program, 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 ‘‘Raising the Bar Act 4 of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5209.IH H5209 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5209 IH SEC. 2. HOMELAND SECURITY VOLUNTARY ONLINE TER- 1 RORIST CONTENT MODERATION EXERCISE 2 PROGRAM. 3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF EXERCISE PROGRAM.—The 4 Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the De- 5 partment of Homeland Security, in consultation with the 6 Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans, the Offi- 7 cer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and the Privacy 8 Officer of the Department of Homeland Security, shall de- 9 sign and administer a voluntary online terrorist content 10 moderation exercise program. Under such program, the 11 Under Secretary for Science and Technology shall— 12 (1) enter into an agreement with the lead insti- 13 tution designated under subsection (b), under which 14 the lead institution shall carry out not fewer than 15 three four-week voluntary online terrorist content 16 moderation exercises during each calendar year; and 17 (2) establish objective criteria for how the lead 18 institution should use information submitted by 19 trusted flaggers and participating technology compa- 20 nies during an exercise conducted under the pro- 21 gram to rate each participating technology company 22 on— 23 (A) the adherence of the participating 24 technology company to the written online ter- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5209.IH H5209 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5209 IH rorist content moderation policies and proce- 1 dures of that company; 2 (B) the compliance of the participating 3 technology company with the requirement to 4 conduct assessments and provide notice of such 5 assessments under subsection (d)(2); and 6 (C) such other factors relating to a partici- 7 pating technology company’s performance in 8 the exercise as the Under Secretary for Science 9 and Technology determines appropriate. 10 (b) LEAD INSTITUTION.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of the program 12 established under subsection (a), the Under Sec- 13 retary for Science and Technology, in consultation 14 with the Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and 15 Plans, shall seek to enter into an agreement with a 16 qualified institution that agrees to be designated as 17 the lead institution for purposes of the program. 18 (2) QUALIFIED INSTITUTION.—For purposes of 19 this section, an institution is qualified for designa- 20 tion as the lead institution pursuant to paragraph 21 (1) if such institution is an institution of higher edu- 22 cation or nonprofit institution that possesses dem- 23 onstrated expertise in at least two of the following 24 areas: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 Dec 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5209.IH H5209 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 5209 IH (A) Domestic terrorism. 1 (B) International terrorism. 2 (C) Cybersecurity. 3 (D) Computer or information technology. 4 (E) Privacy, civil rights, civil liberties, or 5 human rights. 6 (3) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Pursuant to an agree- 7 ment under this subsection, the lead institution shall 8 agree to carry out the following responsibilities: 9 (A) To identify and conduct outreach to 10 technology companies and potential trusted 11 flaggers to encourage the participation of such 12 companies and potential trusted flaggers in the 13 exercise program under this section. 14 (B) To establish criteria, in consultation 15 with participating technology companies, for 16 qualified trusted flaggers. 17 (C) To schedule and carry out three four- 18 week exercises during each calendar year to 19 evaluate the adherence of each participating 20 technology company to the written online ter- 21 rorist content moderation policies and proce- 22 dures of the company during the period for 23 which the exercise is conducted, which shall in- 24 clude notifying participating technology compa- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5209.IH H5209 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 5209 IH nies and trusted flaggers of the commencement 1 of the exercise 24 hours before the commence- 2 ment of the exercise and may include providing 3 nominal payments to trusted flaggers for par- 4 ticipating in such exercise. 5 (D) To develop a letter rating system 6 based on the objective criteria established pur- 7 suant to subsection (a)(2), in collaboration with 8 participating technology companies, to be used 9 to assign a letter rating to each participating 10 technology company upon the conclusion of an 11 exercise. 12 (E) To establish a process under which a 13 trusted flagger can anonymously notify a par- 14 ticipating technology company of content that 15 the trusted flagger identifies during an exercise 16 because the trusted flagger believes such con- 17 tent is online terrorist content that violates a 18 written online terrorist content moderation pol- 19 icy or procedure of the company. 20 (F) To design a template for trusted 21 flaggers to use to submit to the lead institution 22 each notification communicated pursuant to the 23 process under subparagraph (E) together with 24 the following information: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5209.IH H5209 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 5209 IH (i) The name of the trusted flagger 1 communicating the notification and the 2 name of the participating technology com- 3 pany receiving such notification. 4 (ii) The grounds for the notification, 5 including a specific identification of the 6 written online terrorist content moderation 7 policy or procedure of the participating 8 technology company that was violated by 9 the identified content and the terrorist ide- 10 ology or ideologies associated with such 11 content. 12 (iii) The location, including the uni- 13 form resource locator, where the identified 14 content was found, including a screen shot 15 of the content that does not include any 16 personally identifiable information. 17 (iv) The date and time when the par- 18 ticipating technology company was notified 19 of such content pursuant to the process 20 under subparagraph (E). 21 (v) Any other information the lead in- 22 stitution determines is appropriate. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5209.IH H5209 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 5209 IH (G) To establish requirements for an as- 1 sessment as required pursuant to subsection 2 (d)(2). 3 (H) To issue a report pursuant to sub- 4 section (f) on each exercise after sharing a 5 draft of the report and providing participating 6 technology companies and trusted flaggers who 7 participated in the exercise with the opportunity 8 to comment on the report. 9 (I) Not later than 60 days after issuing a 10 report pursuant to subsection (f) on an exer- 11 cise, to convene a virtual or in-person meeting 12 with participating technology companies and 13 trusted flaggers who participated in the exercise 14 to discuss the exercise and other related mat- 15 ters, as identified by the lead institution, in 16 consultation with the participating technology 17 companies and trusted flaggers. 18 (4) CONSORTIUM.—An agreement entered into 19 under subsection (a)(1) may provide that the lead 20 institution may execute agreements with other insti- 21 tutions of higher education or nonprofit institutions 22 to establish a consortium of such institutions to as- 23 sist in carrying out the responsibilities of the lead 24 institution under the agreement. To the extent that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5209.IH H5209 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 5209 IH the Under Secretary for Science and Technology 1 identifies institutions of higher education or non- 2 profit institutions for participation in such a consor- 3 tium, the Under Secretary shall seek to ensure the 4 participation of historically Black colleges and uni- 5 versities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and Tribally 6 controlled colleges and universities. 7 (c) TRUSTED FLAGGERS.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of the program 9 under this section, a trusted flagger is an individual 10 or entity that— 11 (A) is selected by the lead institution, in 12 coordination with participating technology com- 13 panies, on the basis of criteria established by 14 the institution for such purpose; and 15 (B) enters into an agreement with the lead 16 institution and the participating technology 17 companies that participate in an exercise car- 18 ried out under the program to perform the re- 19 sponsibilities specified in paragraph (2) for the 20 duration of the exercise. 21 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities 22 specified in this paragraph are the following: 23 (A) To monitor public-facing areas of the 24 participating technology companies for online 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5209.IH H5209 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 5209 IH terrorist content that may violate a written on- 1 line terrorist content moderation policy or pro- 2 cedure of the participating technology company. 3 (B) To provide timely notification of any 4 online terrorist content identified on the online 5 platform of a participating technology company 6 to such company pursuant to the process under 7 subsection (b)(3)(E). 8 (C) To carry out other activities requested 9 by the lead institution, in consultation with par- 10 ticipating technology companies. 11 (d) RESPONSIBILITIES OF PARTICIPATING TECH- 12 NOLOGY COMPANIES.— 13 (1) AGREEMENTS.—To participate in the vol- 14 untary online terrorist content moderation exercise 15 program under this section, a technology company 16 shall enter into an agreement with the lead institu- 17 tion to carry out the responsibilities under this sub- 18 section. 19 (2) ASSESSMENTS.—Each participating tech- 20 nology company shall agree— 21 (A) to conduct an assessment of each noti- 22 fication communicated by a trusted flagger pur- 23 suant to the process established under sub- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5209.IH H5209 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 5209 IH section (b)(3)(E) within 24 hours of receipt; 1 and 2 (B) to provide notice to the lead institution 3 of the completion of each assessment conducted 4 under this paragraph, including— 5 (i) whether such assessment was com- 6 pleted within 24 hours of receipt of the no- 7 tification; and 8 (ii) whether such assessment caused 9 the participating technology company to 10 decide to take or not take a certain action 11 and the grounds for such action or in ac- 12 tion. 13 (3) PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO LEAD IN- 14 STITUTION.—Each participating technology company 15 shall agree to provide to the lead institution— 16 (A) the written online terrorist content 17 moderation policies and procedures of the com- 18 pany with respect to responding to identified 19 online terrorist content, including any rule or 20 community standard of the company that pro- 21 hibits terrorist content and information regard- 22 ing any system that the company uses to review 23 online terrorist content that is reported that 24 violates any such rule or standard, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5209.IH H5209 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 5209 IH (i) guidance about what online ter- 1 rorist content is prohibited, including ex- 2 amples of permissible and impermissible 3 content and the guidelines used internally 4 to enforce rules or community standards 5 that prohibit online terrorist content; and 6 (ii) information on the use of auto- 7 mated detection on the platform of the 8 company; and 9 (B) a point of contact for use by trusted 10 flaggers to report online terrorist content pur- 11 suant to the process under subsection 12 (b)(3)(E). 13 (4) DISCLOSURE AND NOTICE REQUIRE- 14 MENTS.— 15 (A) DISCLOSURE OF PARTICIPATION.— 16 Each such participating technology company 17 shall agree to disclose the participation of the 18 company in the voluntary online terrorist con- 19 tent moderation exercise program on the online 20 platform of the company. 21 (B) NOTICE TO USERS.—Each such par- 22 ticipating technology company shall agree to 23 provide notice to each user whose content is re- 24 moved or account is suspended or terminated as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5209.IH H5209 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 5209 IH a result of an exercise conducted under this sec- 1 tion. Such notice shall include— 2 (i) the specific provision in the written 3 online terrorist content moderation policies 4 or procedures of the participating tech- 5 nology company that such online terrorist 6 content was found to violate; and 7 (ii) an explanation of the process 8 through which the user can appeal, pursu- 9 ant to paragraph (5), the decision to re- 10 move the content or suspend or terminate 11 the account. 12 (C) FORM OF NOTICE.—Each such partici- 13 pating technology company shall agree to pro- 14 vide the notice required under subparagraph 15 (B) in both human- and machine-readable for- 16 mats that are accessible even if a user’s account 17 is suspended or terminated. 18 (5) APPEALS PROCESS.—Each participating 19 technology company shall agree to provide for a 20 timely appeal process under which a user may chal- 21 lenge a content removal or account suspension or 22 t [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]