World Press Freedom Protection and Reciprocity Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3818 To protect and promote the freedom of the press globally. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 21, 2020 Mr. RUBIO (for himself and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To protect and promote the freedom of the press globally. 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 ‘‘World Press Freedom 4 Protection and Reciprocity Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 8 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 9 mittees’’ means— 10 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 11 the Senate; and 12 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3818.IS S3818 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3818 IS (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 1 the House of Representatives. 2 (2) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per- 3 son’’ means an individual who is not— 4 (A) a United States citizen; or 5 (B) an alien lawfully admitted for perma- 6 nent residence to the United States. 7 (3) INTERNATIONALLY-RECOGNIZED RIGHT TO 8 FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION.—The term ‘‘internation- 9 ally-recognized right to freedom of expression’’ are 10 the rights set forth in— 11 (A) Article 19 of the Universal Declaration 12 of Human Rights, done at Paris December 10, 13 1948; and 14 (B) Article 19 of the International Cov- 15 enant on Civil and Political Rights, done at 16 New York December 19, 1966. 17 (4) MAJOR NON-NATO ALLY.—The term ‘‘major 18 non-NATO ally’’ means a country designated by the 19 President as a major non-NATO ally pursuant to 20 section 517 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 21 (22 U.S.C. 2321k). 22 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 23 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3818.IS S3818 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3818 IS (1) Freedom of the press is a critical compo- 1 nent of democratic governance that enhances trans- 2 parency, accountability, and participation of civil so- 3 ciety. 4 (2) United States Government efforts to protect 5 and expand freedom of the press and free expression 6 strengthen the national interests of the United 7 States by— 8 (A) supporting democracy; 9 (B) promoting good governance and public 10 health; 11 (C) mitigating conflict; and 12 (D) encouraging transparency and civil so- 13 ciety development around the world. 14 (3) Journalists, media personnel, and other in- 15 dividuals and organizations around the world that 16 receive and impart information and ideas face in- 17 creasing restrictions, threats, censorship, arbitrary 18 detention, torture, enforced disappearances, extraju- 19 dicial killings, and other violence for exercising their 20 internationally-recognized right to freedom of ex- 21 pression. 22 (4) Impunity for attacks on journalists, blog- 23 gers, and media personnel is an acute problem 24 around the world and a primary challenge to pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3818.IS S3818 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3818 IS tecting freedom of expression and freedom of the 1 press. 2 (5) According to research and press freedom 3 rankings issued annually by Freedom House, the 4 Committee to Protect Journalists, and Reporters 5 Without Borders, some of the countries with the 6 most restrictive media and information environments 7 include Cuba, Djibouti, Eritrea, Iran, Laos, 8 Myanmar, North Korea, the Philippines, Saudi Ara- 9 bia, Syria, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam. 10 (6) Since a failed coup attempt in 2016, the 11 Government of the Republic of Turkey has used ter- 12 rorism and national security laws to shutter hun- 13 dreds of media outlets and jail dozens of journalists, 14 compounding the effects of more than a decade of 15 expanding ruling party influence over the ownership 16 of mainstream media in the country at the expense 17 of independent outlets. 18 (7) The People’s Republic of China, which 19 maintains one of the most restrictive media and in- 20 formation environments in the world, seeks to con- 21 trol free speech inside and outside of China 22 through— 23 (A) censorship; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3818.IS S3818 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3818 IS (B) onerous media organization registra- 1 tion requirements; 2 (C) harassment and retaliation; 3 (D) imprisonment; 4 (E) conditioning of press credential renew- 5 als for all journalists and visa issuance for for- 6 eign journalists on ‘‘positive’’ coverage of 7 China; and 8 (F) the operation of a digital surveillance 9 system so pervasive that both routine and sen- 10 sitive reporting activities and many aspects of 11 daily life are subject to government monitoring. 12 (8) The Russian Federation has continued to 13 use sophisticated tools to block and control informa- 14 tion online and employ draconian laws to pressure 15 independent media. 16 (9) The expansion and export of new tech- 17 nologies used for censorship and surveillance— 18 (A) represent a notable threat to human 19 rights, including press freedoms, transparency, 20 and democratic governance globally; and 21 (B) constitute a critical challenge to 22 United States national interests. 23 (10) Other countries’ restrictions on the activi- 24 ties of United States journalists and media per- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3818.IS S3818 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3818 IS sonnel, other countries’ censorship and blocking of 1 websites of United States news and media corpora- 2 tions, and other restrictions on the cross-border flow 3 of information— 4 (A) damage the competitiveness of United 5 States corporations; 6 (B) limit United States access to informa- 7 tion critical for United States investors, con- 8 sumers, and others making market and finan- 9 cial decisions; and 10 (C) should be considered a restriction of 11 trade and the creation of an unfair competitive 12 advantage benefitting foreign government-con- 13 trolled news organizations and other foreign 14 news and media corporations. 15 (b) POLICY STATEMENT.—It is the policy of the 16 United States— 17 (1) to advocate for detained and targeted jour- 18 nalists and other media personnel overseas, includ- 19 ing citizen journalists and bloggers; 20 (2) to call on governments, in both bilateral dis- 21 cussions and through multilateral organizations— 22 (A) to end restrictions on the internation- 23 ally-recognized right to freedom of expression; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3818.IS S3818 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3818 IS (B) to abide by international commitments 1 set forth in— 2 (i) Article 19 of the Universal Dec- 3 laration of Human Rights, done at Paris 4 December 10, 1948; and 5 (ii) Article 19 of the International 6 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 7 done at New York December 19, 1966; 8 (3) to urge foreign governments— 9 (A) to transparently investigate and bring 10 to justice the perpetrators of attacks against 11 journalists, bloggers, and other media per- 12 sonnel; and 13 (B) to halt efforts to censor or block access 14 to news from United States journalists and 15 media personnel and the websites of United 16 States news and media organizations; 17 (4) to highlight threats against freedom of the 18 press in the Department of State’s Annual Country 19 Reports on Human Rights Practices, as required 20 under section 116(d)(12) of the Foreign Assistance 21 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)(12)), and other 22 public statements by senior Department of State of- 23 ficials; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3818.IS S3818 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3818 IS (5) to seek, as part of bilateral diplomatic nego- 1 tiations globally, conditions for— 2 (A) a free flow of news and information; 3 (B) internet freedom; and 4 (C) an end to visas restrictions for United 5 States media personnel; 6 (6) to link expansion of the free flow of news 7 and information with ongoing and future trade 8 agreements and other bilateral agreements and com- 9 muniques by seeking language eliminating— 10 (A) all limitations on market access for 11 news agency services; and 12 (B) any restrictions on cross-border data 13 flows involving journalists and the media, in- 14 cluding data flowing through the internet; 15 (7) to ensure that pursuing bilateral relation- 16 ships with foreign governments, particularly govern- 17 ments with restrictive press and information envi- 18 ronments, based on the principles of reciprocity 19 across many sectors, including economic, diplomatic, 20 educational, religious, and in the free flow of news 21 and information; and 22 (8) to clearly differentiate, in official state- 23 ments, media communications, and messaging, be- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3818.IS S3818 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3818 IS tween the citizens of a country and the government 1 of such country. 2 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY REGARDING PROTECTION 3 OF FOREIGN JOURNALISTS AND OTHER 4 MEDIA PERSONNEL GLOBALLY. 5 It is the policy of the United States to consider for- 6 eign government officials who are responsible for, are 7 complicit in, or have directly or indirectly engaged in se- 8 vere restrictions of the internationally-recognized right to 9 freedom of expression, such as arbitrary detention, impris- 10 onment, enforced disappearance, torture, extrajudicial kill- 11 ing, and other substantial threats to the life and liberty 12 of a person, as having committed gross violations of inter- 13 nationally recognized human rights for purposes of impos- 14 ing sanctions with respect to such officials under— 15 (1) the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Ac- 16 countability Act (22 U.S.C. 2656 note; subtitle F of 17 title XII of Public Law 114–328); and 18 (2) section 7031(c) of the Department of State, 19 Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appro- 20 priations Act, 2019 (division F of Public Law 116– 21 6). 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3818.IS S3818 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3818 IS SEC. 5. PLAN TO PROMOTE RECIPROCAL ACCESS FOR 1 UNITED STATES NEWS AND MEDIA ORGANI- 2 ZATIONS. 3 (a) PLAN.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish 5 a plan for negotiating access for United States news 6 and media companies and their employees globally 7 and work to enhance reciprocity given to news and 8 media companies operating in the United States. 9 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after 10 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 11 of State shall submit a report to the appropriate 12 congressional committees that summarizes the plan 13 required under paragraph (1). 14 (b) POLICY STATEMENTS.— 15 (1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 16 (A) United States news and media organi- 17 zations, including United States-based media 18 organizations, and information portals are 19 blocked or censored by certain foreign govern- 20 ments, while the United States market remains 21 open to websites of foreign news and media or- 22 ganizations and information portals, including 23 state-owned propaganda organizations. 24 (B) The stark lack of reciprocity in market 25 access for news and media organizations and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3818.IS S3818 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3818 IS country access for journalists and media per- 1 sonnel— 2 (i) limits constructive contacts be- 3 tween the United States and the world; 4 and 5 (ii) allows some foreign governments 6 unbalanced influence over their people’s 7 views of the United States and perceptions 8 in the United States of their policies and 9 programs. 10 (C) Foreign governments with a sizable 11 media and information footprint in the United 12 States have a distinct interest in maintaining 13 such footprint. 14 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 15 Congress that, in the interest of increasing recip- 16 rocal access for United States journalists and news 17 and media organizations and expanding press free- 18 doms globally, the President should proactively pur- 19 sue bilateral agreements with governments referred 20 to in paragraph (1) to ensure reciprocal access by 21 both countries. 22 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President may impose the 24 sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to any 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3818.IS S3818 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3818 IS foreign person the President determines, based on credible 1 evidence— 2 (1) is responsible for the jailing, killing, or tor- 3 ture of journalists or significant efforts to harass, 4 restrict the activities of, terminate the visas of, or 5 threaten the safety of United States journalists and 6 media personnel. 7 (2) acted as an agent, or on behalf, of a foreign 8 person in a matter relating to an activity described 9 in paragraph (1); or 10 (3) is a government official, or a senior asso- 11 ciate of such an official, that is responsible for, or 12 complicit in, ordering, controlling, or otherwise di- 13 recting an activity described in paragraph (1). 14 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—A foreign person de- 15 scribed in subsection (a) who is an individual— 16 (1) shall be ineligible to receive a visa from the 17 United States, enter the United States, or be admit- 18 ted to the United States; and 19 (2) if such individual has been issued a visa or 20 other documentation by the United States that pro- 21 vides any immigration benefit, shall have such visa 22 or other documentation revoked, in accordance with 23 section 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality 24 Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Jun 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3818.IS S3818 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 3818 IS (c) TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President may termi- 2 nate the application of sanctions under subsection 3 (b) wi [Text truncated for display. 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