[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 833 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 833

  Countering disinformation, propaganda, and misinformation in Latin 
America and the Caribbean, and calling for multi-stakeholder efforts to 
     address the significant detrimental effects that the rise in 
disinformation, propaganda, and misinformation in regional information 
  environments has on democratic governance, human rights, and United 
                       States national interests.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 19, 2024

 Mr. Lujan (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Kelly, 
 Mr. Warner, and Mr. Murphy) submitted the following resolution; which 
           was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Countering disinformation, propaganda, and misinformation in Latin 
America and the Caribbean, and calling for multi-stakeholder efforts to 
     address the significant detrimental effects that the rise in 
disinformation, propaganda, and misinformation in regional information 
  environments has on democratic governance, human rights, and United 
                       States national interests.

Whereas the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of the press are core 
        pillars of democratic governance throughout Latin America and the 
        Caribbean, as recognized in the Inter-American Democratic Charter, done 
        at Lima September 11, 2001;
Whereas the vulnerability of existing information environments in Latin America 
        and the Caribbean and the growing spread of inaccurate or false news 
        through disinformation and misinformation activities pose serious 
        threats to democratic governance and human rights in the Americas, which 
        are likely to be further exacerbated by the rise of disinformation 
        generated and enhanced by artificial intelligence;
Whereas disinformation and misinformation activities in Latin American and the 
        Caribbean have--

    (1) promoted harmful, false narratives spread by the People's Republic 
of China and the Russian Federation, according to research by Global 
Americans and the Equis Institute, including with respect to the COVID-19 
pandemic and the unjustified invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation;

    (2) posed risks to the integrity of electoral processes throughout the 
region, including in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, according to a report 
entitled ``Disinformation in Democracies: Strengthening Digital Resilience 
in Latin America'' issued in March 2019 by the Atlantic Council;

    (3) contributed to protests in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador, 
oftentimes amplified by operations linked to the Russian Federation, 
according to reporting by the New York Times;

    (4) contributed to the exploitation of migrants by human smuggling 
networks that drive irregular migration, according to multiple 
investigations by the Tech Transparency Project; and

    (5) contributed to a rise in xenophobic violence against migrants and 
refugees, according to multiple sources, including the Digital Forensic 
Research Lab;

Whereas information environments are closely interconnected between the United 
        States and Latin America and the Caribbean, such that disinformation and 
        misinformation flows between Latino populations in the United States and 
        populations in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a report 
        entitled ``Latinos and a Growing Crisis of Trust'' issued in June 2022 
        by the Equis Institute;
Whereas, according to the report entitled ``Measuring the Impact of 
        Misinformation, Disinformation, and Propaganda in Latin America'' issued 
        in October 2021 by Global Americans (referred to in this preamble as the 
        ``Global Americans Report''), intra- and extra-regional actors operate 
        independently and in tandem to create and spread disinformation in Latin 
        America and the Caribbean on both traditional and digital media 
        platforms, including YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp, and 
        Telegram, where such activities are amplified through coordinated 
        inauthentic behavior, such as the use of bots, trolls, and cyber troops;
Whereas political actors throughout Latin America and the Caribbean have 
        manipulated domestic information environments by targeting citizens 
        through disinformation activities, including in--

    (1) Brazil, where former President Jair Bolsonaro had a direct role in 
spreading electoral disinformation, according to the Superior Electoral 
Court of Brazil and the Federal Police of Brazil;

    (2) El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele uses coordinated 
inauthentic networks to attack political opponents and bolster the 
perception of support for his policies, according to reporting by Reuters;

    (3) Guatemala, where malicious actors with links to the then ruling 
party of former President Alejandro Giammattei carried out information 
operations to artificially amplify narratives eroding trust in the 
country's 2023 electoral process and targeting now President Bernardo 
Arevalo and his political party Semilla, according to research by the 
Digital Forensic Research Lab;

    (4) Honduras, where actors linked to former President Juan Orlando 
Hernandez developed coordinated inauthentic networks to spread falsehoods 
about, and undermine support for, opposition party candidates, according to 
reporting by Time;

    (5) Mexico, where President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador spreads false 
and misleading narratives against the media and other independent 
institutions, according to research by the Digital Forensic Research Lab; 
and

    (6) Venezuela, where actors linked to the regime of Nicolas Maduro have 
engaged in a sustained and synchronized campaign of disinformation to 
undermine the country's 2023-2024 electoral process, invalidate the results 
of such elections, and attack Maria Corina Machado and other opposition 
leaders, according to multiple sources, including the Digital Forensic 
Research Lab;

Whereas, in addition to spreading and amplifying disinformation against their 
        own populations, authoritarian regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela 
        have also engaged in such activities against other countries in the 
        region for purposes of undermining democratic values and spreading 
        narratives contrary to the interests of the United States and its 
        allies, including through coordinated efforts with extra-regional 
        actors, such as publishing and amplifying false narratives by Russian 
        state-controlled media outlets;
Whereas, according to the Global Americans Report, the Governments of the 
        People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, and the Islamic 
        Republic of Iran have engaged in disinformation and propaganda 
        operations aimed at undermining the influence and interests of the 
        United States in Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly through 
        the use of state-affiliated media networks targeting Spanish-speaking 
        audiences, such as CGTN TV and Xinhua News, RT and Sputnik, and 
        HispanTV;
Whereas, according to a public statement by the Department of State on November 
        7, 2023, the Russian Federation is ``currently financing an on-going, 
        well-funded disinformation campaign across Latin America'', including in 
        Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, 
        Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay;
Whereas, according to the Digital Forensic Research Lab and EUvsDisinfo, the 
        Russian Federation considers social media outreach to Spanish-speaking 
        and Portuguese-speaking audiences an important component of its state-
        sponsored media strategy, and the Spanish-language social media accounts 
        of Kremlin-controlled media RT and Sputnik have more followers and 
        engagement than their English- and Russian-language counterparts and 
        comparable programming from the United States Agency for Global Media;
Whereas information environments in Latin America and the Caribbean are further 
        distorted by the rise in the practice of disinformation for hire, by 
        which political actors outsource information operations to regional and 
        extra-regional public relations firms that impersonate local news 
        outlets, civic organizations, and other entities through fake social 
        media accounts and engage in other deceptive practices to create and 
        amplify disinformation for profit;
Whereas the threats and effects of disinformation and misinformation in Latin 
        America and the Caribbean are exacerbated by--

    (1) the widespread use of social media and closed messaging platforms, 
where disinformation and misinformation is spread faster and farther, as 
primary communication and news sources, as indicated by the Reuters 
Institute Digital News Report 2022;

    (2) high barriers of access to other forms of independent media and low 
media and digital literacy rates that lead to the unintentional spread of 
disinformation and misinformation;

    (3) growing levels of distrust in public institutions, as indicated by 
recent AmericasBarometer surveys by the Latin American Public Opinion 
Project; and

    (4) low levels of transnational coordination among relevant 
stakeholders within the region;

Whereas, on March 3, 2017, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of 
        Opinion and Expression, the Organization for Security and Co-operation 
        in Europe (OSCE) Representative on Freedom of the Media, the 
        Organization of American States (OAS) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of 
        Expression, and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights 
        Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information 
        issued a declaration entitled ``Joint Declaration on Freedom of 
        Expression and Fake News, Disinformation and Propaganda'', which 
        cautioned against the criminalization and regulation of disinformation 
        and misinformation activities and called instead for joint efforts by 
        relevant stakeholders;
Whereas some current efforts by governments in Latin American and the Caribbean 
        to counter disinformation raise serious freedom of expression concerns 
        that run counter to the recommendations made in the ``Joint Declaration 
        on Freedom of Expression and Fake News, Disinformation and Propaganda'';
Whereas government and political actors in some Latin American and Caribbean 
        countries have undertaken notable efforts to address the threat of 
        disinformation in ways consistent with the protection of freedoms of 
        expression and the press, including--

    (1) political parties in Uruguay, which signed an ethics pact in April 
2019 pledging to not generate or promote disinformation against political 
adversaries; and

    (2) the national electoral institution of Panama, which engaged in 
joint workshops with the electoral institutions of Argentina in June 2019 
and Costa Rica in September 2021 to share best practices on monitoring and 
countering information operations on social media;

Whereas, despite discernible progress in taking down accounts used by prominent, 
        often foreign-backed, disinformation networks to engage in coordinated 
        inauthentic activity and partnering with regional stakeholders, efforts 
        by social media companies, including Facebook and Twitter, to address 
        disinformation and misinformation in Latin America and the Caribbean 
        continue to be hampered by--

    (1) insufficient resources and attention devoted to countering such 
activities in low- and middle-income countries, as documented by multiple 
sources, including the Facebook Papers;

    (2) significant gaps in the detection and enforcement of Spanish-
language disinformation and misinformation relative to such English-
language activities;

    (3) enduring barriers to transparency and access for social media 
datasets and algorithms that are critical to independent disinformation and 
misinformation research; and

    (4) limited cooperation among social media companies on plans and best 
practices to mitigate disinformation networks operating across platforms;

Whereas independent media, civil society, and academic groups have launched 
        several initiatives to address disinformation and misinformation on 
        social media and closed messaging platforms in Latin America and the 
        Caribbean through fact-checking, media and digital literacy, and 
        information sharing services, including Chequeado, Comprova, Verificado, 
        and Cazadores de Fake News; and
Whereas the United States has pursued efforts to support the strengthening of 
        information environments, promote independent media, and counter 
        disinformation activities in Latin America and the Caribbean, including 
        through initiatives led by the Global Engagement Center, the United 
        States Agency for International Development, the United States Agency 
        for Global Media, and United States embassies in the region: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes the serious threats the distortion of 
        information environments through the creation and amplification 
        of disinformation and misinformation on traditional and digital 
        media platforms poses to democratic governance and human rights 
        in Latin America and the Caribbean;
            (2) denounces independent and coordinated efforts by 
        malicious actors to create and amplify disinformation in the 
        Western Hemisphere, including foreign information operations 
        led by the Governments of the People's Republic of China, the 
        Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Cuba, and 
        Nicaragua and the Maduro regime in Venezuela;
            (3) urges social media companies to take additional steps 
        to address how social media platforms are used to facilitate 
        malicious activities, including disinformation, in Latin 
        America and the Caribbean, including by--
                    (A) devoting significantly more resources to 
                monitoring how such platforms are being exploited to 
                spread false news, incite violence, and interfere with 
                democratic electoral processes in the region;
                    (B) strengthening detection and removal enforcement 
                capabilities against sources of Spanish-language and 
                other non-English disinformation content;
                    (C) improving transparency over regional content 
                moderation efforts to counter disinformation, the 
                training and auditing of social media algorithms for 
                Spanish-language and other non-English content, and 
                datasets critical for disinformation and misinformation 
                research;
                    (D) expanding and strengthening partnerships with 
                local actors, including initiatives with third-party 
                fact checkers and independent, democratic electoral 
                institutions;
                    (E) investing in media and digital literacy 
                education in the region; and
                    (F) strengthening coordination with one another on 
                plans and best practices to help limit the spread of 
                disinformation content online;
            (4) calls on governments in Latin America and the Caribbean 
        to counter disinformation activities and strengthen information 
        environments by--
                    (A) bolstering regional mechanisms to coordinate 
                responses and share best practices on countering 
                disinformation;
                    (B) advancing efforts by political parties and 
                other actors to publicly commit to refrain from 
                generating or amplifying disinformation content through 
                coordinated inauthentic behavior or outsourcing such 
                activities to public relations firms; and
                    (C) safeguarding and strengthening free and 
                independent media, promoting fact-checking, increasing 
                use of digital forensics, and boosting media literacy 
                efforts by civil society, journalists, and academia; 
                and
            (5) calls on the President and the heads of all relevant 
        Federal agencies and departments to strengthen the role of the 
        United States in countering the creation and amplification of 
        disinformation in Latin America and the Caribbean and 
        bolstering regional information environments, including by--
                    (A) increasing support for the activities described 
                in paragraph (4);
                    (B) ensuring strong support for and coordination of 
                concurrent efforts between all relevant bureaus and 
                offices of the Department of State and the United 
                States Agency for International Development;
                    (C) ensuring strong support for relevant efforts 
                within the United States Agency for Global Media;
                    (D) convening regional fora, with participation 
                from all relevant stakeholders, to discuss and develop 
                methods to promote a strong, independent media and 
                counter the spread and amplification of disinformation, 
                including through a high-level summit and a Global 
                Engagement Center Tech Challenge;
                    (E) pursuing measures--such as public 
                identification, targeted sanctions, and information 
                sharing and coordination with social media companies in 
                identifying accounts spreading disinformation--to deter 
                and hold accountable government officials in Latin 
                America and the Caribbean who undermine democratic 
                governance by targeting independent media or engaging 
                in activities to create and amplify disinformation; and
                    (F) strengthening the capacity of the United States 
                Government to mitigate the impact and influence of 
                local state-affiliated media outlets of malicious 
                extra-regional actors by offering objective, reliable, 
                and accurate information, including through--
                            (i) increased investment in public 
                        diplomacy programming by the United States in 
                        Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly 
                        programming aimed at engaging with local 
                        audiences through social media and messaging 
                        platforms; and
                            (ii) increased resources and programming 
                        from the United States Agency for Global Media 
                        tailored to audiences in Latin America and the 
                        Caribbean.
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