[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4575 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Free the Internet around the Globe 
to Hack Tyranny and Censorship Act'' or the ``FIGHT Censorship Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Assistant secretary.--The term ``Assistant Secretary'' 
        means the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications 
        and Information.
            (2) United states internet freedom policy.--The term 
        ``United States internet freedom policy'' means the policy 
        under section 3(b).

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF UNITED STATES POLICY ON COMMITMENT TO INTERNET 
              FREEDOM.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) the internet has revolutionized communications and is 
        one of the most transformative technological developments of 
        the 20th century;
            (2) the internet is a powerful tool that facilitates the 
        exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including 
        freedoms of expression, association, peaceful assembly, and 
        religion or belief;
            (3) the internet has vastly improved economic freedom for 
        connected individuals around the world and driven a global 
        increase in trade, commercial activity, and innovation;
            (4) the internet is intended to be universal, and a 
        segmented or fractured internet puts protection of human rights 
        and fundamental freedoms at risk;
            (5) national governments that pursue aggressive data 
        localization efforts or attempts to reduce the free flow of 
        information across borders erode economic opportunity and 
        freedom for their own citizens;
            (6) national governments that own, sponsor, or largely 
        control social media platforms, telecommunications providers, 
        or other technological mediums and use them to further human 
        rights abuses violate the rights and freedoms described in this 
        subsection; and
            (7) national governments that engage in internet shutdowns, 
        arrests for nonviolent expression online, politically motivated 
        content moderation, and online political surveillance violate 
        human rights, including the rights to privacy and safety, as 
        well as the fundamental freedoms of their own citizens.
    (b) Policy.--It is the policy of the United States--
            (1) that the internet should remain open, interoperable, 
        reliable, and secure, and grounded in a transparent, consensus-
        driven, multi-stakeholder model;
            (2) to uphold human rights and fundamental freedoms 
        described in subsection (a) domestically and promote their 
        continued adoption, protection, and expansion throughout the 
        world;
            (3) to engage international partners and national 
        governments who pledge to uphold the human rights and 
        fundamental freedoms described in subsection (a), and build a 
        coalition of like-minded countries to support those rights and 
        freedoms in all internet-related activities;
            (4) that the United States is committed to a single 
        internet where everyone in the world has access to the free 
        exchange of information and ideas; and
            (5) that the United States, its global partners, and United 
        States companies should ensure that all national governments 
        adhere to the human rights and fundamental freedoms described 
        in subsection (a) in questions of internet policy and work to 
        counter national governments hostile to those rights and 
        freedoms.

SEC. 4. NTIA RESPONSIBILITIES.

    The Assistant Secretary shall--
            (1) adhere to the United States internet freedom policy;
            (2) communicate the United States internet freedom policy 
        to appropriate stakeholders during meetings of international 
        organizations at which the Assistant Secretary represents the 
        United States in discussions on internet policy; and
            (3) work to advance the United States internet freedom 
        policy in global fora.

SEC. 5. INTERNET FREEDOM TASK FORCE.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Commerce shall establish an 
Internet Freedom Task Force composed of--
            (1) the National Telecommunications and Information 
        Administration;
            (2) the United States Patent and Trademark Office;
            (3) the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and
            (4) the International Trade Administration.
    (b) Coordinator.--The Assistant Secretary shall coordinate the 
activities of the Internet Freedom Task Force.
    (c) Duties.--
            (1) Annual report.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
        of enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter for 4 
        additional years, the Internet Freedom Task Force shall submit 
        to Congress a report on the state of global internet freedom.
            (2) Consultation.--The Assistant Secretary, as coordinator 
        of the Internet Freedom Task Force, shall engage in ongoing 
        consultation with the Director of the United States Patent and 
        Trademark Office, the Director of the National Institute of 
        Standards and Technology, and the Under Secretary of Commerce 
        for International Trade on matters related to privacy policy, 
        copyright, global free flow of information, cybersecurity, and 
        innovation in the internet economy, to ensure that the agency 
        headed by each such official is advancing policies that reflect 
        the United States internet freedom policy.

SEC. 6. ANNUAL DESIGNATIONS OF COUNTRIES THAT FAIL TO PROVIDE 
              SUFFICIENT INTERNET FREEDOM.

    The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of 
Commerce, shall annually designate countries that the Secretary of 
State determines do not provide sufficient internet freedom to their 
residents, including--
            (1) countries with unfavorable domestic laws that--
                    (A) restrict the free flow of information; or
                    (B) deliberately target domestic minority groups; 
                and
            (2) countries advocating for policies at international fora 
        that conflict with the United States internet freedom policy.

SEC. 7. INTERNET FREEDOM GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Grants Authorized.--The Secretary of State, working through the 
Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and 
Labor, and in coordination with other bureaus in the Department of 
State, shall administer a grant program to promote internet freedom 
policies worldwide that conform with the United States internet freedom 
policy.
    (b) Eligible Grantees; Grant Period.--Grants authorized under 
subsection (a) may be awarded to nonprofit and international 
organizations for a period not to exceed 5 years.
    (c) Purpose.--The purpose of the grants authorized under subsection 
(a) shall be--
            (1) to promote anti-censorship technology, including 
        censorship-defeating peer-to-peer communication technology; and
            (2) to promote secure communications technology 
        development, including research on current and future global 
        cybersecurity policy.
    (d) Use of Grant Funds.--Grant funds received by grant recipients 
under this section shall be used--
            (1) to create open-source and free platforms to achieve the 
        purposes described in subsection (c); and
            (2) for projects operating in countries designated by the 
        Secretary of State pursuant to section 6.
    (e) Risk Assessments.--The Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of 
Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor shall conduct periodic risk 
assessments to protect the identity of grant recipients under this 
section.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $25,000,000, which shall remain 
available until expended.

SEC. 8. STOP THE CCP INITIATIVE FUND.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury of the 
United States a trust fund, which shall be known as the ``Stop the CCP 
Initiative Fund'' (referred to in this section as the ``Fund'') and 
shall be administered by the Secretary of State, in consultation with 
the Secretary of Commerce.
    (b) Funding.--There is hereby appropriated $20,000,000 into the 
Fund.
    (c) Purposes.--The purposes of the Fund shall be to support the 
development of technologies, including counter censorship technology 
and secure communications technology development--
            (1) to counter and circumvent internet censorship within 
        the People's Republic of China; and
            (2) to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms on the 
        internet in a manner that is consistent with the United States 
        internet freedom policy.
    (d) Annual Reports.--The Secretary of State shall submit an annual 
report to Congress regarding the activities supported by the Fund 
during the 5-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
Act.
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