FIGHT Censorship Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4575 To ensure that the United States Government advocates for a free internet. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 Mr. GARDNER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To ensure that the United States Government advocates for a free internet. 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 ‘‘Free the Internet 4 around the Globe to Hack Tyranny and Censorship Act’’ 5 or the ‘‘FIGHT Censorship Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act: 8 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist- 9 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 10 Commerce for Communications and Information. 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:27 Sep 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4575.IS S4575 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4575 IS (2) UNITED STATES INTERNET FREEDOM POL- 1 ICY.—The term ‘‘United States internet freedom 2 policy’’ means the policy under section 3(b). 3 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF UNITED STATES POLICY ON COM- 4 MITMENT TO INTERNET FREEDOM. 5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 6 (1) the internet has revolutionized communica- 7 tions and is one of the most transformative techno- 8 logical developments of the 20th century; 9 (2) the internet is a powerful tool that facili- 10 tates the exercise of human rights and fundamental 11 freedoms, including freedoms of expression, associa- 12 tion, peaceful assembly, and religion or belief; 13 (3) the internet has vastly improved economic 14 freedom for connected individuals around the world 15 and driven a global increase in trade, commercial ac- 16 tivity, and innovation; 17 (4) the internet is intended to be universal, and 18 a segmented or fractured internet puts protection of 19 human rights and fundamental freedoms at risk; 20 (5) national governments that pursue aggres- 21 sive data localization efforts or attempts to reduce 22 the free flow of information across borders erode 23 economic opportunity and freedom for their own citi- 24 zens; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Sep 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4575.IS S4575 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4575 IS (6) national governments that own, sponsor, or 1 largely control social media platforms, telecommuni- 2 cations providers, or other technological mediums 3 and use them to further human rights abuses violate 4 the rights and freedoms described in this subsection; 5 and 6 (7) national governments that engage in inter- 7 net shutdowns, arrests for nonviolent expression on- 8 line, politically motivated content moderation, and 9 online political surveillance violate human rights, in- 10 cluding the rights to privacy and safety, as well as 11 the fundamental freedoms of their own citizens. 12 (b) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States— 13 (1) that the internet should remain open, inter- 14 operable, reliable, and secure, and grounded in a 15 transparent, consensus-driven, multi-stakeholder 16 model; 17 (2) to uphold human rights and fundamental 18 freedoms described in subsection (a) domestically 19 and promote their continued adoption, protection, 20 and expansion throughout the world; 21 (3) to engage international partners and na- 22 tional governments who pledge to uphold the human 23 rights and fundamental freedoms described in sub- 24 section (a), and build a coalition of like-minded 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Sep 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4575.IS S4575 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4575 IS countries to support those rights and freedoms in all 1 internet-related activities; 2 (4) that the United States is committed to a 3 single internet where everyone in the world has ac- 4 cess to the free exchange of information and ideas; 5 and 6 (5) that the United States, its global partners, 7 and United States companies should ensure that all 8 national governments adhere to the human rights 9 and fundamental freedoms described in subsection 10 (a) in questions of internet policy and work to 11 counter national governments hostile to those rights 12 and freedoms. 13 SEC. 4. NTIA RESPONSIBILITIES. 14 The Assistant Secretary shall— 15 (1) adhere to the United States internet free- 16 dom policy; 17 (2) communicate the United States internet 18 freedom policy to appropriate stakeholders during 19 meetings of international organizations at which the 20 Assistant Secretary represents the United States in 21 discussions on internet policy; and 22 (3) work to advance the United States internet 23 freedom policy in global fora. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Sep 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4575.IS S4575 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4575 IS SEC. 5. INTERNET FREEDOM TASK FORCE. 1 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Commerce 2 shall establish an Internet Freedom Task Force composed 3 of— 4 (1) the National Telecommunications and Infor- 5 mation Administration; 6 (2) the United States Patent and Trademark 7 Office; 8 (3) the National Institute of Standards and 9 Technology; and 10 (4) the International Trade Administration. 11 (b) COORDINATOR.—The Assistant Secretary shall 12 coordinate the activities of the Internet Freedom Task 13 Force. 14 (c) DUTIES.— 15 (1) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 16 after the date of enactment of this Act, and each 17 year thereafter for 4 additional years, the Internet 18 Freedom Task Force shall submit to Congress a re- 19 port on the state of global internet freedom. 20 (2) CONSULTATION.—The Assistant Secretary, 21 as coordinator of the Internet Freedom Task Force, 22 shall engage in ongoing consultation with the Direc- 23 tor of the United States Patent and Trademark Of- 24 fice, the Director of the National Institute of Stand- 25 ards and Technology, and the Under Secretary of 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Sep 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4575.IS S4575 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4575 IS Commerce for International Trade on matters re- 1 lated to privacy policy, copyright, global free flow of 2 information, cybersecurity, and innovation in the 3 internet economy, to ensure that the agency headed 4 by each such official is advancing policies that re- 5 flect the United States internet freedom policy. 6 SEC. 6. ANNUAL DESIGNATIONS OF COUNTRIES THAT FAIL 7 TO PROVIDE SUFFICIENT INTERNET FREE- 8 DOM. 9 The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Sec- 10 retary of Commerce, shall annually designate countries 11 that the Secretary of State determines do not provide suf- 12 ficient internet freedom to their residents, including— 13 (1) countries with unfavorable domestic laws 14 that— 15 (A) restrict the free flow of information; or 16 (B) deliberately target domestic minority 17 groups; and 18 (2) countries advocating for policies at inter- 19 national fora that conflict with the United States 20 internet freedom policy. 21 SEC. 7. INTERNET FREEDOM GRANT PROGRAM. 22 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of State, 23 working through the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau 24 of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and in coordi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Sep 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4575.IS S4575 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4575 IS nation with other bureaus in the Department of State, 1 shall administer a grant program to promote internet free- 2 dom policies worldwide that conform with the United 3 States internet freedom policy. 4 (b) ELIGIBLE GRANTEES; GRANT PERIOD.—Grants 5 authorized under subsection (a) may be awarded to non- 6 profit and international organizations for a period not to 7 exceed 5 years. 8 (c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the grants authorized 9 under subsection (a) shall be— 10 (1) to promote anti-censorship technology, in- 11 cluding censorship-defeating peer-to-peer commu- 12 nication technology; and 13 (2) to promote secure communications tech- 14 nology development, including research on current 15 and future global cybersecurity policy. 16 (d) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—Grant funds received 17 by grant recipients under this section shall be used— 18 (1) to create open-source and free platforms to 19 achieve the purposes described in subsection (c); and 20 (2) for projects operating in countries des- 21 ignated by the Secretary of State pursuant to sec- 22 tion 6. 23 (e) RISK ASSESSMENTS.—The Assistant Secretary 24 for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Sep 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4575.IS S4575 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4575 IS shall conduct periodic risk assessments to protect the iden- 1 tity of grant recipients under this section. 2 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 3 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 4 $25,000,000, which shall remain available until expended. 5 SEC. 8. STOP THE CCP INITIATIVE FUND. 6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 7 Treasury of the United States a trust fund, which shall 8 be known as the ‘‘Stop the CCP Initiative Fund’’ (referred 9 to in this section as the ‘‘Fund’’) and shall be adminis- 10 tered by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the 11 Secretary of Commerce. 12 (b) FUNDING.—There is hereby appropriated 13 $20,000,000 into the Fund. 14 (c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Fund shall be 15 to support the development of technologies, including 16 counter censorship technology and secure communications 17 technology development— 18 (1) to counter and circumvent internet censor- 19 ship within the People’s Republic of China; and 20 (2) to promote human rights and fundamental 21 freedoms on the internet in a manner that is con- 22 sistent with the United States internet freedom pol- 23 icy. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Sep 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4575.IS S4575 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4575 IS (d) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Secretary of State shall 1 submit an annual report to Congress regarding the activi- 2 ties supported by the Fund during the 5-year period be- 3 ginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Sep 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4575.IS S4575 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS