[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5076 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5076

 To require periodic updates to the comprehensive strategy to promote 
Internet freedom and access to information in Iran, to authorize grants 
to support and develop programs in Iran that promote or expand an open, 
 interoperable, reliable, and secure Internet, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 17, 2024

  Mr. Cardin (for himself and Mr. Lankford) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require periodic updates to the comprehensive strategy to promote 
Internet freedom and access to information in Iran, to authorize grants 
to support and develop programs in Iran that promote or expand an open, 
 interoperable, reliable, and secure Internet, 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 ``Iran Internet Freedom Act''.

SEC. 2. UPDATES TO COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY TO PROMOTE INTERNET FREEDOM 
              AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN IRAN.

    (a) Updates.--Section 414 of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria 
Human Rights Act of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8754) is amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 
        ``Not later than'' and inserting the following:
    ``(a) Initial Strategy.--Not later than'';
            (2) in subsection (a), as redesignated--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (11) and (12) as 
                paragraphs (14) and (15), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (10) the 
                following:
            ``(11) evaluate the use of virtual private networks by 
        civil society and human rights activists in Iran and develop 
        strategies for increasing the accessibility to such networks;
            ``(12) develop guidance for the Department of the Treasury 
        to ensure that enforcement of sanctions does not prevent 
        companies from providing Iranian civilians with the technology 
        and other tools necessary to access the open Internet;
            ``(13) assess the ability of the Iranian regime to cut off 
        all access to the Internet and develop a strategy to circumvent 
        Internet blackouts for Iranian civil society;''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Mandatory Update.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
the enactment of the Iran Internet Freedom Act, the Secretary of State, 
in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the heads of 
other Federal agencies, as appropriate, shall--
            ``(1) review and update the strategy to more effectively 
        address the objectives described in subsection (a); and
            ``(2) submit the updated strategy to the appropriate 
        congressional committees.
    ``(c) Periodic Reviews; Updates.--The Secretary of State, in 
consultation with the Secretary of Treasury, and the heads of other 
Federal agencies, as appropriate, shall--
            ``(1) periodically review the strategy submitted pursuant 
        to subsection (a); and
            ``(2) whenever such review reveals the need to modify such 
        strategy to more effectively address the objectives described 
        in subsection (a), submit an updated strategy to the 
        appropriate congressional committees.
    ``(d) Form.--Each strategy required under this section shall be 
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.''.

SEC. 3. PROGRAMMING AND SUPPORT TO CIRCUMVENT IRANIAN INTERNET 
              CENSORSHIP.

    (a) Grants To Support Internet Freedom Technology Programs in 
Iran.--The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Administrator 
of the United States Agency for International Development and the 
President of the Open Technology Fund, as appropriate, may award grants 
and contracts to private organizations to support and develop programs 
in Iran that promote or expand--
            (1) an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure Internet; 
        and
            (2) the online exercise of human rights and fundamental 
        freedoms of individual citizens, activists, human rights 
        defenders, independent journalists, civil society 
        organizations, and marginalized populations in Iran.
    (b) Goals.--The goals of the programs developed with grants 
authorized under subsection (a) should be--
            (1) to support unrestricted access to the Internet in Iran;
            (2) to increase the availability of internet freedom tools 
        in Iran;
            (3) to scale up the distribution of such technologies and 
        tools throughout Iran;
            (4) to conduct research on repressive tactics that 
        undermine internet freedom in Iran;
            (5) to ensure information on digital safety is available to 
        human rights defenders, independent journalists, civil society 
        organizations, and marginalized populations in Iran; and
            (6) to engage private industry, including e-commerce firms 
        and social networking companies, regarding the importance of 
        preserving unrestricted Internet access in Iran.
    (c) Grant Recipients.--Grants authorized under this section shall 
be distributed to multiple vendors and suppliers through an open, fair, 
competitive, and evidence-based decision process--
            (1) to diversify the technical base; and
            (2) to reduce the risk of misuse by bad actors.
    (d) Security Audits.--New technologies developed using grants 
authorized under this section shall undergo comprehensive security 
audits to ensure that such technologies are secure and have not been 
compromised in a manner detrimental to--
            (1) the interests of the United States; or
            (2) individuals or organizations benefitting from programs 
        supported by such funding.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to 
        the Open Technology Fund, in addition to the amount 
        appropriated for the Open Technology Fund pursuant to section 
        1299P(d) of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense 
        Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116-283), 
        $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2025 and 2026 to carry 
        out the grant program authorized under this section.
            (2) Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to 
        paragraph (1) shall remain available until expended.
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