[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8409 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8409
To make certain modifications relating to the Social Media Data and
Threat Analysis Center for the purpose of improving cooperative actions
to detect and counter foreign influence operations, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 18, 2022
Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To make certain modifications relating to the Social Media Data and
Threat Analysis Center for the purpose of improving cooperative actions
to detect and counter foreign influence operations, 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 ``Countering Foreign Malign Influence
Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. MODIFICATIONS TO SOCIAL MEDIA DATA AND THREAT ANALYSIS CENTER.
(a) FFRDC.--Paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of section 5323 of the
Damon Paul Nelson and Matthew Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization
Act for Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, and 2020 (division E of Public Law
116-92; 50 U.S.C. 3369) is amended by inserting before the period at
the end the following: ``or a federally funded research and development
center''.
(b) Functions.--Paragraph (2) of such subsection is amended to read
as follows:
``(2) Functions.--The functions described in this paragraph
are the following:
``(A) Acting as a convening and sponsoring
authority for social media companies, other internet
companies, third-party experts, nongovernmental
organizations, data journalists, federally funded
research and development centers, academic researchers,
traditional media, and international counterparts, as
appropriate, to collectively, cooperatively, and
proactively identify, analyze, and counter the threats
posed by internet-based foreign malign influence
activities on social media platforms and other affected
internet-based platforms.
``(B) Facilitating tactical and strategic analysis
of internet-based foreign malign influence activities,
within and across the individual social media platforms
or other affected public-facing online platforms,
including with respect to--
``(i) hacking and leaking campaigns;
``(ii) coordinated inauthentic behavior;
``(iii) manipulation of social media
algorithms or search engine results;
``(iv) machine-manipulated media;
``(v) cut-out or proxy internet platforms,
blogs, or similar properties;
``(vi) fake, deceptive, or inauthentic
online profiles, including accounts that
consist mainly of automated actions (commonly
referred to as `bots');
``(vii) disinformation campaigns; and
``(viii) any other tactics assessed as
supporting foreign malign influence through
internet-based covert or undeclared means, and
unlawful activities that fund or subsidize such
operations.
``(C) Developing processes and best practices for
sharing relevant information, indicators, and findings
about internet-based foreign malign influence
activities among elements of the United States
Government and the individual social media platforms
and other public-facing internet-based platforms to
inform threat analysis and provide timely warning of
such foreign malign influence activities, working with
the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as
appropriate.
``(D) Developing and making public criteria for
identifying which stakeholders qualify for inclusion in
the activities of the Center, and inviting entities
that fit the criteria to join or otherwise participate.
``(E) Determining jointly with social media
companies and other public-facing internet-based
platforms what categories of data and metadata related
to indicators of internet-based foreign malign
influence activities from their platforms and business
operations will be made available for access and
analysis by participants of the Center.
``(F) Developing and making public the criteria and
standards for data handling, data security, and data
privacy that must be met for participants of the Center
to access and analyze data relating to internet-based
foreign malign influence activities within and across
social media or other public-facing internet-based
platforms, and to publish or otherwise use the results.
``(G) Developing and making public the ethical
standards for--
``(i) investigation of internet-based
foreign malign influence activities;
``(ii) the use of indicators, findings, or
analyses relating to such activities;
``(iii) the protection of the privacy,
civil liberties, and constitutionally protected
activities of the customers and users of the
social media platforms and public-facing
internet-based platforms; and
``(iv) the protection the proprietary
information of the social media companies and
other affected internet-based platforms.
``(H) Developing technical, contractual, and
procedural controls to prevent misuse of data,
including any necessary auditing procedures, compliance
checks, and review mechanisms.
``(I) Developing and making public criteria and
conditions under which social media platforms and other
affected public-facing internet-based platforms shall
proactively share with the appropriate elements of the
United States Government data, metadata, or indicators
pertaining to assessed internet-based foreign malign
influence activities, including such criteria and
conditions that address--
``(i) the timeliness and consistency with
which social media platforms or other affected
public-facing internet-based platforms shall
share such data, metadata, or indicators
(including with respect to real-time sharing);
``(ii) the categories of data, metadata,
and indicators to be shared, including with
respect to the activities specified in
subparagraph (B); and
``(iii) the protection of the privacy,
civil liberties, and constitutionally protected
activities of users and customers of social
media platforms and other public-facing
internet-based platforms.
``(J) Hosting a searchable archive aggregating
information related to foreign influence and
disinformation operations to--
``(i) build a collective understanding of
internet-based foreign malign influence
activities; and
``(ii) facilitate future examination
consistent with privacy and civil liberties
protections for users and customers of social
media platforms and other public-facing
internet-based platforms.
``(K) Developing data standards and protocols to
harmonize and facilitate the timely sharing of
information pursuant to this paragraph.''.
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