119 HR 5956 IH: Defending Against Foreign Propaganda Act U.S. House of Representatives 2025-11-07 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 119th CONGRESS1st Session H. R. 5956 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES November 7, 2025 Mr. Kean introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To require certain disclosures on advertisements paid for by the governments of foreign countries or by foreign persons, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Defending Against Foreign Propaganda Act.

2.

Requirement for disclosure with respect to advertisements paid for by the governments of foreign countries and foreign persons

(a)

Requirement

(1)

In general

A person may not disseminate to a consumer an advertisement paid for by the government of a foreign country or by a foreign person without disclosing to the consumer, in the manner described in paragraph (2), that the advertisement was paid for by such government or by such person. (2)

Manner described

The manner described in this paragraph is the following: (A)With respect to an advertisement that includes a sound component, a disclosure made pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be included in the advertisement as a sound component. (B)With respect to an advertisement that includes a printed language component, a disclosure made pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be included in the advertisement as a printed language component. (C)With respect to an advertisement that includes a video component, a disclosure made pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be included in the advertisement as a sound component and a printed language component. (D)With respect to an advertisement paid for by a foreign person, a disclosure made pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include the following as applicable: (i)The name of the foreign country from which the foreign person is a citizen of. (ii)The name of the foreign country in which the foreign person has its principal place of business. (b)

Enforcement by federal trade commission

(1)

Unfair or deceptive acts or practices

A violation of this section shall be treated as a violation of a regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices. (2)

Powers of commission

The Federal Trade Commission shall enforce this section in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this Act. Any person who violates this section shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act. (c)

Definitions

In this section: (1)

Alien

The term alien has the meaning given such term in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101). (2)

Foreign person

The term foreign person means the following: (A)An alien. (B)A partnership, association, corporation, organization, or other combination of persons having its principal place of business in a foreign country.