Doxing Threat Assessment Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3547 To require the Department of Homeland Security to develop and disseminate a threat assessment regarding the use of cyber harassment, including doxing, by terrorists and foreign malicious actors, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 18, 2023 Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (for herself, Mr. COHEN, Mr. GOLDMAN of New York, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. LANDSMAN, Mr. MAG- AZINER, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Mr. NADLER, Mr. NICKEL, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PETERS, Mr. RYAN, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SHERRILL, Ms. SLOTKIN, Ms. SPANBERGER, Ms. WILD, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Ms. BALINT, Mr. BACON, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. MANNING, Mr. SCHNEI- DER, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Mr. MCCAUL, and Mr. WILSON of South Caro- lina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security A BILL To require the Department of Homeland Security to develop and disseminate a threat assessment regarding the use of cyber harassment, including doxing, by terrorists and foreign malicious actors, 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 ‘‘Doxing Threat Assess- 4 ment Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3547.IH H3547 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3547 IH SEC. 2. THREAT ASSESSMENT ON CYBER HARASSMENT AND 1 ITS USE BY TERRORISTS AND FOREIGN MALI- 2 CIOUS ACTORS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary for Intel- 4 ligence and Analysis of the Department of Homeland Se- 5 curity shall develop and disseminate a threat assessment 6 regarding the use of cyber harassment, including doxing, 7 by terrorists and foreign malicious actors. 8 (b) COORDINATION.—The threat assessment devel- 9 oped pursuant to subsection (a)— 10 (1) shall be developed in coordination with the 11 Privacy Office of the Department of Homeland Se- 12 curity and the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Lib- 13 erties of the Department of Homeland Security; and 14 (2) may be informed by existing products, as 15 appropriate. 16 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—The threat assessment devel- 17 oped pursuant to subsection (a) shall include— 18 (1) an overview of cyber harassment tactics, 19 techniques, and procedures used by terrorists and 20 foreign malign actors; 21 (2) a list of notable incidents of cyber harass- 22 ment by terrorists and foreign malign actors; 23 (3) a review of the threat posed by cyber har- 24 assment, including tactics, techniques, and proce- 25 dures not currently identified as in use by terrorists 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3547.IH H3547 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3547 IH and foreign malign actors, but representing a vulner- 1 ability based on the common practices of such ac- 2 tors, as well as a summary of the terrorist and for- 3 eign malign actors most likely to adapt to use of 4 such tactics, techniques, and procedures; and 5 (4) an overview of cyber harassment typologies 6 and methodologies that may inform risk indicators 7 of relevance to State, local, Tribal, and Federal law 8 enforcement in identifying cyber harassment that 9 may be indicative of terrorist or foreign malign actor 10 involvement. 11 (d) DISSEMINATION AND PUBLICATION.—The Under 12 Secretary shall— 13 (1) not later than 180 days after the date of 14 the enactment of this Act, submit the threat assess- 15 ment to Congressional committees of jurisdiction; 16 and 17 (2) consistent with the protection of classified 18 and confidential unclassified information— 19 (A) disseminate the threat assessment de- 20 veloped under this section with State, local, and 21 Tribal law enforcement officials, including offi- 22 cials who operate within State, local, and re- 23 gional fusion centers through the Department 24 of Homeland Security State, Local, and Re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3547.IH H3547 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3547 IH gional Fusion Center Initiative established in 1 accordance with section 210A of the Homeland 2 Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 124h). 3 (B) ensure a version of the assessment is 4 published on the Department’s website no later 5 than 30 days following dissemination to Con- 6 gress. 7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 8 For the purposes of this Act: 9 (1) CYBER HARASSMENT.—The term ‘‘cyber 10 harassment’’ means electronic communication that 11 harasses, torments, threatens, or terrorizes a target. 12 (2) DOXING.—The term ‘‘doxing’’ means to 13 knowingly publish the personally identifiable infor- 14 mation of another individual, without the individ- 15 ual’s consent and with the intent to— 16 (A) threaten, intimidate, harass, or stalk 17 any person; 18 (B) facilitate another to threaten, intimi- 19 date, harass, or stalk any person; 20 (C) incite or facilitate the commission of a 21 crime of violence against any person; or 22 (D) place any person in reasonable fear of 23 death or serious bodily injury. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3547.IH H3547 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3547 IH (3) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMA- 1 TION.—The term ‘‘personally identifiable informa- 2 tion’’ means— 3 (A) any information that can be used to 4 distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, 5 such as name, prior legal name, alias, mother’s 6 maiden name, social security number, date or 7 place of birth, address, phone number, or bio- 8 metric data; 9 (B) any information that is linked or 10 linkable to an individual, such as medical, fi- 11 nancial, education, consumer, or employment 12 information, data, or records; or 13 (C) any other sensitive private information 14 that is linked or linkable to a specific identifi- 15 able individual, such as gender identity, sexual 16 orientation, or any sexually intimate visual de- 17 piction. 18 (4) TERRORISTS.—The term ‘‘terrorists’’ refers 19 to— 20 (A) any designated Foreign Terrorist Or- 21 ganization (FTO); 22 (B) any group or actor supporting activi- 23 ties that may be covered by section 2331(5) of 24 title 18, United States Code; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3547.IH H3547 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3547 IH (C) any group or actor investigated by the 1 intelligence community pursuant to the intel- 2 ligence review represented by ‘‘Domestic Violent 3 Extremism Poses Heightened Threat in 2021’’, 4 01 March 2021. 5 (5) FOREIGN MALIGN ACTOR.—The term ‘‘for- 6 eign malign actor’’ refers to any foreign adversary 7 entities covered by section 5322(e)(2) of the Na- 8 tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 9 2020 (50 U.S.C. 3059(e)(2)). 10 SEC. 4. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 11 For purposes of construing this Act and amendments 12 made by this Act, the following shall apply: 13 (1) AUTHORITIES.—Nothing in this Act shall 14 be construed to confer any authority, including law 15 enforcement authority, beyond that which is author- 16 ized under existing law. 17 (2) CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS.—Nothing 18 in this Act shall be construed to prohibit any con- 19 stitutionally protected speech, expressive conduct or 20 activities (regardless of whether compelled by, or 21 central to, a system of religious belief), including the 22 exercise of religion protected by the First Amend- 23 ment and peaceful picketing or demonstration. The 24 Constitution does not protect speech, conduct, or ac- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3547.IH H3547 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3547 IH tivities consisting of planning for, conspiring to com- 1 mit, or committing an act of violence. 2 (3) PRIVACY.—Nothing in this Act shall be con- 3 strued to preempt or conflict with existing Federal 4 privacy laws, except in circumstances listed herein. 5 (4) FREE EXPRESSION.—Nothing in this Act 6 shall be construed to allow prosecution based solely 7 upon an individual’s expression of racial, religious, 8 political, or other beliefs or solely upon an individ- 9 ual’s membership in a group advocating or espous- 10 ing such beliefs. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3547.IH H3547 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS