[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8838 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8838

  To prohibit agencies from taking certain action relating to social 
                media companies, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 26, 2024

  Mr. Clyde introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
     Oversight and Accountability, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To prohibit agencies from taking certain action relating to social 
                media companies, 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 ``Free Speech Defense Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The First Amendment guarantees freedoms concerning 
        religion, expression, assembly, and petition of the government. 
        The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of expression by 
        prohibiting the government from restricting the press or the 
        right of an individual to speak freely. The First Amendment 
        also guarantees the right of an individual to assemble 
        peaceably and to petition the government.
            (2) The Fourth Amendment states that each individual is 
        secure from unreasonable searches and seizures of property by 
        the government. The Fourth Amendment protects against arbitrary 
        arrests, wiretaps, and other forms of surveillance conducted 
        without a search warrant.
            (3) In July 2021, the White House press secretary, Jen 
        Psaki, admitted that the White House was working with social 
        media companies to identify ``misinformation''.
            (4) Specifically, Psaki said, ``[W]e're regularly making 
        sure social media platforms are aware of the latest narratives, 
        dangerous to public health that we and many other Americans are 
        seeing across all of social and traditional media.'' Psaki also 
        said, ``[W]e work to engage with them to better understand the 
        enforcement of social media platform policies.''
            (5) 286 pages of documents produced in July 2022 by the 
        Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in response to a 
        Freedom of Information Act request submitted by the America 
        First Legal Foundation, revealed shocking information, 
        including the following:
                    (A) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
                sent to officials of Twitter a chart of tweets that the 
                Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined 
                to be ``misinformation''.
                    (B) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
                held regular BOLO (Be On The Lookout) meetings in which 
                the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would 
                share with social media companies, including Twitter 
                and Facebook, what the Centers for Disease Control and 
                Prevention determined to be ``misinformation''. In the 
                meetings, the Centers for Disease Control and 
                Prevention would provide slide decks requesting, among 
                other things, ``[p]lease do not share outside your 
                trust and safety teams''.
                    (C) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
                recommended to Twitter that information about the 
                Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System be added to 
                tweets.
                    (D) Officials from the Centers for Disease Control 
                and Prevention directly engaged with Facebook, 
                requesting that Facebook flag certain posts as 
                disinformation and ensure that ``verifiable information 
                sources'' were not blocked because posts on Facebook by 
                State Health Departments were being blocked as vaccine 
                misinformation.
                    (E) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
                created a COVID-19 Misinformation Reporting Channel for 
                the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the 
                Census Bureau to make reports to Facebook and held a 
                ``training meeting'' about the Misinformation Reporting 
                Channel.
                    (F) $15,000,000 of Facebook advertising credits 
                were provided to the Centers for Disease Control and 
                Prevention and the Department of Health and Human 
                Services as a ``non-monetary gift'' to promote 
                vaccines, social distancing, travel, and priority 
                communication messages, which may have violated the 
                limitation on voluntary services described in section 
                1342 of the Antideficiency Act (31 U.S.C. 1342).
            (6) The Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, 
        failed to provide clear answers to Congress about the purpose 
        of the Disinformation Governance Board and the selection of 
        Nina Jankowicz to lead the Disinformation Governance Board.
            (7) Revealing whistleblower documents uncovered by Senators 
        Josh Hawley and Chuck Grassley show the shocking extent to 
        which the Disinformation Governance Board was willing to spy on 
        Americans, without a warrant, and flag posts for social media 
        companies as so-called ``disinformation''.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that:
            (1) The records produced by the Centers for Disease Control 
        and Prevention in response to the Freedom of Information Act 
        request described in section 2(5) reveal the extent to which 
        the Biden Administration is willing to engage in 
        unconstitutional and otherwise unlawful activities in total 
        disregard of the rights of the American people.
            (2) Secretary Mayorkas, in congressional committee 
        testimony, failed to provide clear answers to Congress about 
        the purpose of the Disinformation Governance Board.
            (3) The antidote to ``misinformation'' and 
        ``disinformation'' is not censorship but more information, so 
        the American people can make informed decisions independently.
            (4) The Federal Government should not be allowed to 
        circumvent the Constitution of the United States through 
        intermediaries and third parties to violate the rights of the 
        American people to information and freedom from intrusion by 
        the Federal Government, even if the information is not 
        consistent with the views of officials in the Federal 
        Government.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION AGAINST FEDERAL REGULATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA 
              COMPANIES.

    (a) Prohibition Against Regulation.--
            (1) Prohibition.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        head of an agency may not direct or encourage a social media 
        company to--
                    (A) remove or suspend a user from the social media 
                platform of the social media company;
                    (B) label content on the social media platform of 
                the social media company as information, 
                disinformation, true, false, or any other similar 
                characterization; or
                    (C) share with the agency data or information about 
                a particular topic or group of users on the social 
                media platform of the social media company, including--
                            (i) the name, age, or demographic of the 
                        users; and
                            (ii) the content such users share on the 
                        social media platform of the social media 
                        company.
            (2) Exceptions.--The prohibitions described in 
        subparagraphs (A) and (C) of paragraph (1) do not apply to an 
        action taken by the head of an agency--
                    (A) pursuant to a warrant--
                            (i) issued by a Federal court of competent 
                        jurisdiction in accordance with the procedures 
                        described in rule 41 of the Federal Rules of 
                        Criminal Procedure; or
                            (ii) issued by a State court of competent 
                        jurisdiction; or
                    (B) pursuant to a criminal investigation into, or 
                in response to, an immediate threat to public safety, 
                including--
                            (i) child exploitation;
                            (ii) human trafficking;
                            (iii) active streaming of a crime in 
                        progress or another immediate threat to public 
                        safety; or
                            (iv) activity by a foreign terrorist 
                        organization (as designated by the Secretary of 
                        State, in consultation with the Secretary of 
                        the Treasury and the Attorney General, under 
                        section 219(a) of the Immigration and 
                        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a))).
    (b) Prohibition Against Public-Private Partnerships.--
            (1) Prohibition.--The head of an agency may not enter into 
        a public-private partnership with a social media company to 
        monitor any content disseminated on the social media platform 
        of the social media company.
            (2) Exception.--The prohibition described in paragraph (1) 
        does not apply to a public-private partnership between an 
        agency and a social media platform relating to addressing 
        immediate threats to public safety.
            (3) Termination of existing public-private partnerships.--
        Any public-private partnership described in paragraph (1), if 
        in existence on the date of the enactment of this Act, is 
        terminated.
    (c) Prohibition Against Federal Funding.--Federal funds may not be 
used to fund any entity that--
            (1) classifies or facilitates the classification of any 
        communication as information, misinformation, malinformation, 
        disinformation, or any other similar designation; or
            (2) instructs, influences, directs, or recommends that 
        private companies engage in any censorship, prohibition, or 
        obstruction of lawful and constitutionally protected speech on 
        a social media platform, including by--
                    (A) terminating an account of a user;
                    (B) temporarily or permanently suspending an 
                account of a user;
                    (C) imposing a warning or strike against an account 
                of a user to chill or deter future speech;
                    (D) shadowbanning, or in any way manipulating the 
                audience or reach of, a user;
                    (E) demonetizing a type of user or content;
                    (F) adjusting algorithms to suppress or de-
                emphasize user-generated content;
                    (G) deboosting a type of content or user;
                    (H) promoting or demoting content;
                    (I) placing a warning label or explanatory note on 
                any content;
                    (J) suppressing content in the feed of a user;
                    (K) promoting negative comments about a type of 
                disfavored content;
                    (L) requiring an additional click-through to access 
                content;
                    (M) deplatforming any content or user; or
                    (N) any other such method.
    (d) Prohibition Against Soliciting or Accepting Free or Reduced-
Cost Social Media Advertising.--
            (1) In general.--An agency employee acting in an official 
        capacity may not solicit or accept, or enter into a contract or 
        other agreement (including a no-cost agreement) for, free or 
        reduced-cost advertising or other promotion on the social media 
        platform of a social media company.
            (2) Exception.--
                    (A) In general.--The prohibition described in 
                paragraph (1) does not apply to an action taken by an 
                agency employee to address a natural disaster or 
                another immediate threat to public safety.
                    (B) Exclusion.--The exception described in 
                subparagraph (A) does not include a public health 
                emergency.
            (3) Limitation on funds.--No Federal funds may be obligated 
        or expended to--
                    (A) enter into a contract or other agreement 
                (including a no-cost agreement) for free or reduced-
                cost advertising or other promotion on behalf of the 
                Federal Government on the social media platform of a 
                social media company; or
                    (B) pay the salary or expenses of any agency 
                employee to solicit or accept free or reduced-cost 
                advertising or other promotion on behalf of the Federal 
                Government on the social media platform of a social 
                media company.
    (e) Additional Limitations for Senior Federal Officials.--
            (1) In general.--No senior Federal official may solicit, 
        accept, or use, in their personal capacity, any advertising 
        from a social media company that is provided free of charge or 
        at a reduced rate or are otherwise gratuitous.
            (2) Exception.--Except for a public health emergency, the 
        prohibition described in paragraph (1) shall not apply in 
        circumstances where the United States Government is legally 
        authorized to accept free or subsidized advertising on social 
        media platforms, including any instance described in subsection 
        (a)(2)(B)(iii), or for public safety announcements, as 
        determined by the relevant agency head, in consultation with 
        the Office of Government Ethics.
    (f) Penalties for Agency Employees and Senior Federal Officials.--
An agency employee or senior Federal official who knowingly and 
willfully violates subsection (d) or subsection (e), respectively, 
shall be fined not more than $5,000, imprisoned for not more than 2 
years, or both.
    (g) Private Right of Action.--An individual whose account, content, 
or information on the social media platform of a social media company 
has been affected in violation of this Act may file a civil action 
against the United States in the United States District Court for the 
District of Columbia for reasonable attorneys' fees, injunctive relief, 
and actual damages.
    (h) Report.--Not later than 240 days after the date of the 
enactment of this section, and annually thereafter through the tenth 
subsequent year, the Attorney General, in consultation with the 
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights and the Office of Special 
Counsel, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
report evaluating the compliance by agencies with this Act, including a 
description of any action by the head of an agency to--
            (1) consult with a social media company about labeling 
        content on the social media platform of the social media 
        company as described in subsection (a)(1)(B);
            (2) consult with any third party about censorship by an 
        agency employee; or
            (3) engage in any other prohibited activity under this Act.
    (i) Severability.--If any provision of this Act, or the application 
of any such provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be 
unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, and the application of 
such provision to any other person or circumstance, shall not be 
affected by the holding.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given such 
        term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
            (2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on the Judiciary and the 
                Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on the Judiciary and the 
                Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
                of the Senate.
            (3) Public-private partnership.--The term ``public-private 
        partnership'' means a cooperative arrangement between 1 or more 
        agencies and an external organization, in which the arrangement 
        is directly involved in monitoring content for public safety 
        purposes.
            (4) Senior federal official.--The term ``senior Federal 
        official'' means any agency employee, including any member of 
        the uniformed services (as that term is defined in section 101 
        of title 37, United States Code), whose basic rate of pay is at 
        or above the rate of basic pay for level V of the Executive 
        Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United States Code.
            (5) Social media company.--The term ``social media 
        company'' means a company that provides, in or affecting 
        interstate or foreign commerce, a social media platform.
            (6) Social media platform.--The term ``social media 
        platform''--
                    (A) means a website or internet medium that--
                            (i) permits a person to become a registered 
                        user, establish an account, or create a profile 
                        for the purpose of allowing users to create, 
                        share, and view user-generated content through 
                        such an account or profile;
                            (ii) primarily serves as a medium for users 
                        to interact with content generated by other 
                        users of the medium; and
                            (iii) enables one or more users to generate 
                        content that can be viewed by other users of 
                        the medium; and
                    (B) does not include--
                            (i) an email program, email distribution 
                        lists, multi-person text message groups, or a 
                        website that is primarily for the purpose of 
                        internet commerce;
                            (ii) a private platform or messaging 
                        service used by an entity solely to communicate 
                        with others employed by or affiliated with such 
                        entity; or
                            (iii) an internet-based platform whose 
                        primary purpose is--
                                    (I) to allow users to post product 
                                reviews, business reviews, travel 
                                information and reviews; or
                                    (II) to provide news or 
                                entertainment content, but that may 
                                also include a comment section for 
                                users to discuss such news or 
                                entertainment content.
            (7) State.--The term ``State'' means each State of the 
        United States, the District of Columbia, each commonwealth, 
        territory, or possession of the United States, and each 
        federally recognized Indian Tribe.
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