[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 146 (Thursday, September 19, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6224-S6226]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 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

  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:

                              S. Res. 833

       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,

[[Page S6225]]

     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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