To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to design and establish a pilot program to facilitate voluntary information sharing between State, local, and regional fusion centers and certain technology companies related to threats of imminent violence, and for other purposes.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7915 To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to design and establish a pilot program to facilitate voluntary information sharing between State, local, and regional fusion centers and certain technology companies re- lated to threats of imminent violence, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 31, 2020 Mr. MCCAUL (for himself and Mr. LANGEVIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to design and establish a pilot program to facilitate voluntary in- formation sharing between State, local, and regional fu- sion centers and certain technology companies related to threats of imminent violence, 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 bill can be referred to as the ‘‘Protecting Amer- 4 ica through Information Sharing Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7915.IH H7915 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7915 IH SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM TO RESPOND 1 TO THREATS OF IMMINENT VIOLENCE. 2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM.—Not 3 later than one year after enactment of this Act, the Sec- 4 retary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the pro- 5 gram manager of the information sharing environment de- 6 fined in section 1016(a)(3) of the Intelligence Reform and 7 Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, the Attorney General, 8 the Privacy Officer of the Department of Homeland Secu- 9 rity, the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of the 10 Department of Homeland Security, the Office of the Gen- 11 eral Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security, 12 and the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, and 13 other relevant agency heads, shall establish a pilot pro- 14 gram to facilitate the voluntary sharing of information by 15 social networking website companies regarding threats of 16 imminent violence (hereinafter in this Act referred to as 17 ‘‘threats’’) posted on such websites. 18 (b) PRINCIPLES.—Prior to establishing the pilot pro- 19 gram, the Secretary shall consult with the entities de- 20 scribed in subsection (a), social networking website compa- 21 nies, and civil liberty and privacy groups within 90 days 22 of enactments to establish a policy framework to guide the 23 activities of the pilot program. The framework shall in- 24 clude the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7915.IH H7915 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7915 IH (1) The sharing of information between social 1 networking website companies and law enforcement 2 shall be consistent with federally recognized informa- 3 tion-sharing practices and utilize the Nationwide 4 Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative 5 (NSI). 6 (2) Nothing in this pilot program shall require 7 social networking website companies to violate the 8 website’s internal terms and conditions or to disclose 9 any information to a participant in the pilot pro- 10 gram, beyond any existing legal requirements as of 11 the date of enactment of this Act. 12 (3) The pilot program shall establish a basis for 13 what is determined to be a threat, and what the cri- 14 teria are for determining its credibility. 15 (4) There is a policy framework established to 16 protect the disclosure of threat information. 17 (5) Any framework established for sharing 18 threat information shall include the consultation of 19 civil liberty and privacy groups on a biannual basis 20 to discuss the development of a framework pro- 21 tecting civil liberties and privacy, and the enforce- 22 ment of policies guiding the pilot program in pro- 23 tecting civil liberties and privacy consistent with ex- 24 isting law. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7915.IH H7915 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7915 IH (6) The pilot program is intended to focus on 1 threats in the United States, while permitting the 2 data collection and dissemination of all data whether 3 international or domestic in origin. 4 (7) The pilot program shall not infringe on civil 5 liberties or privacy requirements consistent with ex- 6 isting law. 7 (c) STRUCTURE.—In establishing this pilot program, 8 the Secretary shall designate a Federal or SLTT law en- 9 forcement agency, or regional fusion center under section 10 210A of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, to serve as 11 a centralized clearinghouse between social networking 12 website companies and appropriate law enforcement. 13 (d) RESPONSIBILITY OF CLEARINGHOUSE.—This 14 clearinghouse shall be responsible for— 15 (1) receiving threats from social networking 16 website companies and law enforcement regarding 17 threats of imminent violence found on social media 18 whether international or domestic; 19 (2) analyzing such threats to turn such threats 20 into actionable intelligence or distribute such threats 21 to relevant Federal or SLTT law enforcement agen- 22 cies for further analysis whether international or do- 23 mestic; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7915.IH H7915 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7915 IH (3) disseminating such threats and actionable 1 intelligence gathered from social networking website 2 companies and law enforcement to appropriate Fed- 3 eral and SLTT law enforcement agencies. 4 (e) CRITERIA FOR CLEARINGHOUSE.—Fusion centers 5 shall apply for consideration as the centralized clearing- 6 house. In choosing the centralized clearinghouse, the Sec- 7 retary shall consider— 8 (1) the entities’ capacity to work in partnership 9 with social networking website companies and Fed- 10 eral, State and local law enforcement entities; 11 (2) the entities’ capacity to disseminate threat 12 information in a timely manner to the appropriate 13 Federal or SLTT law enforcement agency; 14 (3) similar existing programs that successfully 15 leverage relationships with social networking website 16 companies and Federal and SLTT law enforcement 17 agencies to engage in information sharing related to 18 threats of imminent violence; 19 (4) the capacity of the clearinghouse to utilize 20 existing information sharing networks; and 21 (5) usage of existing, accredited information 22 sharing networks such as the Homeland Security In- 23 formation Network. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7915.IH H7915 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7915 IH (f) PARTICIPATION.—In establishing this pilot pro- 1 gram, the Secretary shall conduct outreach to fusion cen- 2 ters, other law enforcement agencies and social networking 3 website companies to educate them on the pilot program, 4 and invite appropriate entities to participate in this vol- 5 untary program. 6 SEC. 3. OVERTIME PAY. 7 Each member of the pilot program (other than those 8 from participating social media networking website com- 9 panies) (and each individual from any SLTT law enforce- 10 ment agency working on the pilot program) shall remain 11 as an employee of that member’s or individual’s respective 12 agency for all purposes (including the purpose of perform- 13 ance review), and service with the pilot program shall be 14 without interruption or loss of civil service privilege or sta- 15 tus and on a nonreimbursable basis, except if appropriate 16 to reimburse SLTT law enforcement agencies for overtime 17 costs for an individual appointed to work with the resource 18 team. Additionally, reimbursement of travel and per diem 19 expenses will occur for SLTT law enforcement officers for 20 purposes of activities engaged in only by reason of partici- 21 pation in the pilot program. 22 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—No cause of action shall lie in any 24 court— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7915.IH H7915 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7915 IH (1) against a social media website company or 1 other private entity for information provided in good 2 faith regarding threats of imminent violence in the 3 course of participation in the pilot program estab- 4 lished in section 2(a); 5 (2) against a social media website company or 6 other private entity for information withheld in good 7 faith regarding threats of imminent violence to the 8 pilot program established in section 2(a); 9 (3) against the clearinghouse established in sec- 10 tion 2(c) or members of law enforcement for acting 11 on a threat received via the pilot program estab- 12 lished in section 2(a); and 13 (4) against the clearinghouse established in sec- 14 tion 2(c) or members of law enforcement for not act- 15 ing on a threat received via the pilot program estab- 16 lished in section 2(a). 17 (b) INTENTIONAL, RECKLESS, OR OTHER MIS- 18 CONDUCT.—Subsection(a) does not apply to a claim if the 19 social networking website company, or a director, officer, 20 employee, parent, contractor, or agent of that social net- 21 working website company— 22 (1) engaged in intentional misconduct; or 23 (2) acted, or failed to act— 24 (A) with actual malice; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7915.IH H7915 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7915 IH (B) with reckless disregard to a substantial 1 risk of causing injury without legal justification; 2 or 3 (C) for a purpose unrelated to the per- 4 formance of any responsibility or function de- 5 scribed in paragraph (3). 6 (c) EXCEPTION.—The limitation of liability as de- 7 scribed in subsection (a)(1) and (a)(2) only applies should 8 social networking website companies choose to participate 9 in the pilot program as described in section 2(a). 10 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 11 (a) SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITE COMPANY PAR- 12 TICIPATION.—Nothing in this Act may be construed to re- 13 quire any social networking website, to participate in the 14 pilot program or to disclose any information to a partici- 15 pant in the pilot program. No Federal or State liability, 16 or any other actionable adverse consequence, may be im- 17 posed on such website company based on its decision not 18 to do so. 19 (b) ACTING ON A REPORTED THREAT.—Nothing in 20 this Act shall be construed to require any Federal or 21 SLTT law enforcement agency to open an investigation 22 or act in accordance with a threat received from the clear- 23 inghouse established in section 2(c). Any government ac- 24 tion with respect to information received from the clear- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7915.IH H7915 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7915 IH inghouse may only be taken consistent with existing au- 1 thorities and obligations. 2 (c) CONSISTENT WITH EXISTING LAW.—Information 3 voluntarily shared by social networking website companies 4 through the pilot program established in this Act shall re- 5 main in accordance with section 2702(c) of title 18, 6 United States Code. 7 (d) PROTECTION OF CIVIL LIBERTIES.—The pilot 8 program shall adhere to constitutional rights and existing 9 laws on civil liberties and privacy. 10 (e) SUBSCRIBER DATA.—Information shared through 11 the pilot program shall not include subscriber data as de- 12 scribed in the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 13 1986. 14 SEC. 6. REPORT. 15 No later than 2 years after enactment, the Secretary, 16 in consultation with entities participating in the pilot pro- 17 gram, shall report to Congress on the pilot program estab- 18 lished in section 2 that assesses— 19 (1) the capability of social networking website 20 companies to identify public posts indicating threats 21 of imminent violence, and their capacity to share 22 such threats with the clearinghouse established as 23 part of the pilot program; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7915.IH H7915 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7915 IH (2) the total number of notifications shared be- 1 tween participating social networking website compa- 2 nies and the clearinghouse of the pilot program re- 3 garding threats of imminent violence; 4 (3) the time it took participating social net- 5 working website companies to flag threats of immi- 6 nent violence posted on their platforms to the clear- 7 inghouse; 8 (4) the time it took the clearinghouse to convert 9 threats received from social networking website com- 10 panies into actionable intelligence; 11 (5) the time it took the clearinghouse to dis- 12 seminate threats from social networking website 13 companies to appropriate law enforcement entities; 14 and 15 (6) to the extent practicable, the number of 16 times a threat passing through the clearinghouse led 17 to an active law enforcement response. 18 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 19 In this Act: 20 (1) SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITE COMPANY.— 21 The term ‘‘social networking website company’’ 22 means a company that maintains an internet 23 website— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7915.IH H7915 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 7915 IH (A) that allows users, through the creation 1 of web pages or profiles or by other means, to 2 provide information about themselves or others 3 that is available to the public or to other users; 4 or 5 (B) that offers a mechanism for commu- 6 nication with other users, including any con- 7 tractors or agents used by the website company 8 to act on behalf of the website company in car- 9 rying out the purposes of this Act. 10 (2) THREAT OF IMMINENT VIOLENCE.—The 11 term ‘‘threat of imminent violence’’ means any inci- 12 dent in which there is a reasonable indication that 13 an individual or group suggest an intent to immi- 14 nently inflict injury or death to oneself or others, or 15 terrorism as defined by section 2(18) of the Home- 16 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101(18)) or an 17 attack that otherwise lacks a clearly discernible po- 18 litical or ideological motivation. 19 (3) SLTT LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The 20 term ‘‘SLTT law enforcement agency’’ means a 21 State, local, Tribal, or territorial law enforc [Text truncated for display. 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