[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8746 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8746

  To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program to 
develop a training program that teaches members of the Armed Forces to 
interact with digital information in a safe and responsible manner, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 13, 2024

  Ms. Stevens (for herself and Ms. Slotkin) introduced the following 
      bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program to 
develop a training program that teaches members of the Armed Forces to 
interact with digital information in a safe and responsible manner, and 
                          for other purposes.

    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 ``The Strategic Homeland Information 
Education and Learning Defense Act of 2024'' or the ``SHIELD Act of 
2024''.

SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM FOR DIGITAL INFORMATION TRAINING FOR MEMBERS OF 
              THE ARMED FORCES.

    (a) Pilot Program.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall establish a pilot 
program (in this section referred to as the ``pilot program'') to 
develop a training program that teaches members of the Armed Forces to 
interact with digital information in a safe and responsible manner.
    (b) Elements.--In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary 
shall--
            (1) develop and carry out a curriculum that includes 
        instruction on--
                    (A) how to identify--
                            (i) fact-based journalism;
                            (ii) opinion-based journalism;
                            (iii) disinformation;
                            (iv) conspiracy theories; and
                            (v) hate-based ideologies, including 
                        antisemitism and white supremacy;
                    (B) how to assess the credibility of digital news 
                and other digital sources of information;
                    (C) the effects of online actions on the actor and 
                others, including the effects of posting or sharing 
                personal, incorrect, or bias-based information;
                    (D) the importance of protecting personal 
                information and how to protect personal information 
                with respect to online activities;
                    (E) how to recognize and avoid common information-
                based threats that could harm--
                            (i) an individual targeted by such threats;
                            (ii) the property of the individual; or
                            (iii) the security, property, or goals of 
                        the Department of Defense when the individual 
                        is a member of the Armed Forces; and
                    (F) in the case that the individual is a member of 
                the Armed Forces, methodologies--
                            (i) that the individual can use when 
                        locating, evaluating, and using digital 
                        information; and
                            (ii) which are designed reduce insider 
                        threats to, and vulnerabilities of, the Armed 
                        Forces with respect to conspiracy theories and 
                        hate-based ideology;
            (2) select as participants a geographically and 
        demographically diverse sample of members of the Armed Forces 
        in such number as is necessary to collect meaningful feedback 
        about the training program; and
            (3) use in-person, virtual, and hybrid training delivery 
        methods in equal amounts.
    (c) Termination.--The authority of Secretary to carry out the pilot 
program shall terminate on the date that is one year after the date on 
which the pilot program begins.
    (d) Consultation.--In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary 
may consult with organizations that specialize in teaching or providing 
information to individuals about interacting with digital information 
in a safe and responsible manner.
    (e) Survey.--After the date on which the pilot program terminates 
pursuant to subsection (c), the Secretary shall survey participants and 
instructors to identify--
            (1) ways to improve the training program and curriculum;
            (2) ways to improve participant engagement during the 
        training program; and
            (3) the extent to which participants retained, over time, 
        the information taught during the training program.
    (f) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the termination of the 
pilot program, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Armed 
Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report 
summarizing the results of the pilot program, including--
            (1) a comparison of the in-person, virtual, and hybrid 
        training delivery methods, considering--
                    (A) the engagement of participants during the 
                training program;
                    (B) the extent to which participants retained, over 
                time, the information taught during the training 
                program; and
                    (C) other notable differences, as determined by the 
                Secretary;
            (2) a determination, based on such comparison, about which 
        training delivery method is most effective for teaching the 
        curriculum developed under subsection (b)(1);
            (3) a recommendation about how often a member of the Armed 
        Forces should be required to attend a permanent training 
        program about interacting with digital information in a safe 
        and responsible manner, if established, considering the extent 
        to which participants of the pilot program retained information 
        taught during the training program; and
            (4) a recommendation about how often the curriculum of any 
        such permanent training program should be updated.
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