[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1478 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1478
To protect and promote the freedom of the press globally.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 29, 2021
Mr. Rubio (for himself and Mr. Cardin) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To protect and promote the freedom of the press globally.
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 ``World Press Freedom Protection and
Reciprocity Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House
of Representatives.
(2) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means an
individual who is not--
(A) a United States citizen; or
(B) an alien lawfully admitted for permanent
residence to the United States.
(3) Internationally-recognized right to freedom of
expression.--The term ``internationally-recognized right to
freedom of expression'' are the rights set forth in--
(A) Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, done at Paris December 10, 1948; and
(B) Article 19 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, done at New York December
19, 1966.
(4) Major non-nato ally.--The term ``major non-NATO ally''
means a country designated by the President as a major non-NATO
ally pursuant to section 517 of the Foreign Assistance Act of
1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321k).
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Freedom of the press is a critical component of
democratic governance that enhances transparency,
accountability, and participation of civil society.
(2) United States Government efforts to protect and expand
freedom of the press and free expression strengthen the
national interests of the United States by--
(A) supporting democracy;
(B) promoting good governance and public health;
(C) mitigating conflict; and
(D) encouraging transparency and civil society
development around the world.
(3) Journalists, media personnel, and other individuals and
organizations around the world that receive and impart
information and ideas face increasing restrictions, threats,
censorship, arbitrary detention, torture, enforced
disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and other violence for
exercising their internationally-recognized right to freedom of
expression.
(4) Impunity for attacks on journalists, bloggers, and
media personnel is an acute problem around the world and a
primary challenge to protecting freedom of expression and
freedom of the press.
(5) According to research and press freedom rankings issued
annually by Freedom House, the Committee to Protect
Journalists, and Reporters Without Borders, some of the
countries with the most restrictive media and information
environments include Cuba, Djibouti, Eritrea, Iran, Laos,
Myanmar, North Korea, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Syria,
Turkmenistan, and Vietnam.
(6) Since a failed coup attempt in 2016, the Government of
the Republic of Turkey has used terrorism and national security
laws to shutter hundreds of media outlets and jail dozens of
journalists, compounding the effects of more than a decade of
expanding ruling party influence over the ownership of
mainstream media in the country at the expense of independent
outlets.
(7) The People's Republic of China, which maintains one of
the most restrictive media and information environments in the
world, seeks to control free speech inside and outside of China
through--
(A) censorship;
(B) onerous media organization registration
requirements;
(C) harassment and retaliation;
(D) imprisonment;
(E) conditioning of press credential renewals for
all journalists and visa issuance for foreign
journalists on ``positive'' coverage of China; and
(F) the operation of a digital surveillance system
so pervasive that both routine and sensitive reporting
activities and many aspects of daily life are subject
to government monitoring.
(8) The Russian Federation has continued to use
sophisticated tools to block and control information online and
employ draconian laws to pressure independent media.
(9) The expansion and export of new technologies used for
censorship and surveillance--
(A) represent a notable threat to human rights,
including press freedoms, transparency, and democratic
governance globally; and
(B) constitute a critical challenge to United
States national interests.
(10) Other countries' restrictions on the activities of
United States journalists and media personnel, other countries'
censorship and blocking of websites of United States news and
media corporations, and other restrictions on the cross-border
flow of information--
(A) damage the competitiveness of United States
corporations;
(B) limit United States access to information
critical for United States investors, consumers, and
others making market and financial decisions; and
(C) should be considered a restriction of trade and
the creation of an unfair competitive advantage
benefitting foreign government-controlled news
organizations and other foreign news and media
corporations.
(b) Policy Statement.--It is the policy of the United States--
(1) to advocate for detained and targeted journalists and
other media personnel overseas, including citizen journalists
and bloggers;
(2) to call on governments, in both bilateral discussions
and through multilateral organizations--
(A) to end restrictions on the internationally-
recognized right to freedom of expression; and
(B) to abide by international commitments set forth
in--
(i) Article 19 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, done at Paris December 10,
1948; and
(ii) Article 19 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, done at
New York December 19, 1966;
(3) to urge foreign governments--
(A) to transparently investigate and bring to
justice the perpetrators of attacks against
journalists, bloggers, and other media personnel; and
(B) to halt efforts to censor or block access to
news from United States journalists and media personnel
and the websites of United States news and media
organizations;
(4) to highlight threats against freedom of the press in
the Department of State's Annual Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices, as required under section 116(d)(12) of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)(12)), and
other public statements by senior Department of State
officials;
(5) to seek, as part of bilateral diplomatic negotiations
globally, conditions for--
(A) a free flow of news and information;
(B) internet freedom; and
(C) an end to visas restrictions for United States
media personnel;
(6) to link expansion of the free flow of news and
information with ongoing and future trade agreements and other
bilateral agreements and communiques by seeking language
eliminating--
(A) all limitations on market access for news
agency services; and
(B) any restrictions on cross-border data flows
involving journalists and the media, including data
flowing through the internet;
(7) to ensure that pursuing bilateral relationships with
foreign governments, particularly governments with restrictive
press and information environments, based on the principles of
reciprocity across many sectors, including economic,
diplomatic, educational, religious, and in the free flow of
news and information; and
(8) to clearly differentiate, in official statements, media
communications, and messaging, between the citizens of a
country and the government of such country.
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY REGARDING PROTECTION OF FOREIGN JOURNALISTS
AND OTHER MEDIA PERSONNEL GLOBALLY.
It is the policy of the United States to consider foreign
government officials who are responsible for, are complicit in, or have
directly or indirectly engaged in severe restrictions of the
internationally-recognized right to freedom of expression, such as
arbitrary detention, imprisonment, enforced disappearance, torture,
extrajudicial killing, and other substantial threats to the life and
liberty of a person, as having committed gross violations of
internationally recognized human rights for purposes of imposing
sanctions with respect to such officials under--
(1) the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act
(22 U.S.C. 2656 note; subtitle F of title XII of Public Law
114-328); and
(2) section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign
Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2019
(division F of Public Law 116-6).
SEC. 5. PLAN TO PROMOTE RECIPROCAL ACCESS FOR UNITED STATES NEWS AND
MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS.
(a) Plan.--
(1) In general.--The President shall establish a plan for
negotiating access for United States news and media companies
and their employees globally and work to enhance reciprocity
given to news and media companies operating in the United
States.
(2) Report.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a
report to the appropriate congressional committees that
summarizes the plan required under paragraph (1).
(b) Policy Statements.--
(1) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(A) United States news and media organizations,
including United States-based media organizations, and
information portals are blocked or censored by certain
foreign governments, while the United States market
remains open to websites of foreign news and media
organizations and information portals, including state-
owned propaganda organizations.
(B) The stark lack of reciprocity in market access
for news and media organizations and country access for
journalists and media personnel--
(i) limits constructive contacts between
the United States and the world; and
(ii) allows some foreign governments
unbalanced influence over their people's views
of the United States and perceptions in the
United States of their policies and programs.
(C) Foreign governments with a sizable media and
information footprint in the United States have a
distinct interest in maintaining such footprint.
(2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that,
in the interest of increasing reciprocal access for United
States journalists and news and media organizations and
expanding press freedoms globally, the President should
proactively pursue bilateral agreements with governments
referred to in paragraph (1) to ensure reciprocal access by
both countries.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.
(a) In General.--The President may impose the sanctions described
in subsection (b) with respect to any foreign person the President
determines, based on credible evidence--
(1) is responsible for the jailing, killing, or torture of
journalists or significant efforts to harass, restrict the
activities of, terminate the visas of, or threaten the safety
of United States journalists and media personnel;
(2) acted as an agent, or on behalf, of a foreign person in
a matter relating to an activity described in paragraph (1); or
(3) is a government official, or a senior associate of such
an official, that is responsible for, or complicit in,
ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing an activity
described in paragraph (1).
(b) Sanctions Described.--A foreign person described in subsection
(a) who is an individual--
(1) shall be ineligible to receive a visa from the United
States, enter the United States, or be admitted to the United
States; and
(2) if such individual has been issued a visa or other
documentation by the United States that provides any
immigration benefit, shall have such visa or other
documentation revoked, in accordance with section 221(i) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)).
(c) Termination of Sanctions.--
(1) In general.--The President may terminate the
application of sanctions under subsection (b) with respect to
an individual if the President makes a determination that--
(A) credible information exists that the individual
did not engage in the activity for which the sanctions
were imposed;
(B) the individual has been prosecuted
appropriately for the activity for which the sanctions
imposed;
(C) the individual has--
(i) credibly demonstrated a significant
change in behavior;
(ii) been subject to an appropriate
consequence for the activity for which the
sanctions were imposed; and
(iii) credibly committed to not engage in
an activity described in that subsection in the
future; or
(D) the termination of the application of sanctions
is in the national security interests of the United
States.
(2) Notification.--Not later than 15 days before the date
on which the application of sanctions is terminated under
paragraph (1) with respect to an individual, the Secretary of
State shall submit a report to the Committee on Foreign
Relations of the Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary of the
Senate, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the
House of Representatives that describes the justification for
such termination.
(d) Exception.--Sanctions described in subsection (b) shall not
apply to an individual if admitting the individual into the United
States is necessary to permit the United States to comply with the
Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at
Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947,
between the United Nations and the United States, or any other
applicable international obligation of the United States.
(e) Waiver.--The President may waive the application of the
sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to an individual if
the President--
(1) determines that such a waiver is in the national
interest of the United States; and
(2) upon granting such a waiver, submits a report to the
committees specified in subsection (c)(2) that--
(A) details the evidence and justification for the
necessity of the waiver; and
(B) explains how the waiver relates to the national
security of the United States.
(f) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 5 years, the
President shall submit a report to the committees referred to
in subsection (c)(2) that identifies each individual with
respect to which the application of sanctions has been
terminated under subsection (c) during the preceding year,
including the country of origin of the individual and the dates
on which such sanctions were imposed or terminated, as
applicable.
(2) Form.--The report required under paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified
annex.
(3) Exclusion of personally identifiable information.--The
President may not include any personally identifiable
information of any United States citizen in a report submitted
under paragraph (1).
(4) Applicability of privacy act.--Any information obtained
by the President to complete a report required under paragraph
(1) shall be subject to section 552a of title 5, United States
Code (commonly known as the ``Privacy Act'').
SEC. 7. CLEAR LABELING FOR INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS DISTRIBUTED ON
BEHALF OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OR FOREIGN PRINCIPALS.
Section 4(b) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (22
U.S.C. 614(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Informational materials required to be labeled under this subsection
that are in the form of prints shall be marked or stamped conspicuously
at the top of the first page with a statement, in the language or
languages used therein, that sets forth the information required under
this subsection.''.
SEC. 8. ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES.
(a) Report Relating to Economic Assistance.--
(1) In general.--Section 116(d) of the Foreign Assistance
Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (11)(C), by striking ``and'' at
the end;
(B) in paragraph (12)(C)(ii), by striking the
period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(13) an assessment of freedom of expression with respect
to electronic information in each foreign country, including
the extent to which government authorities in each country--
``(A) attempt to filter, censor, shape, or
otherwise block or remove nonviolent expression of
political, religious, ideological opinion via the
internet, including electronic mail, and the means by
which such authorities attempt to block or remove such
expression;
``(B) have persecuted or otherwise punished an
individual or group for the nonviolent expression of
political, religious, or ideological opinion via the
internet, including electronic mail;
``(C) have sought to collect, request, obtain, or
disclose personally identifiable information of a
person in connection with such person's nonviolent
expression of political, religious, or ideological
opinion on a foreign platform, including expression
that would be protected by the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights; and
``(D) monitor wire communications and electronic
communications without regard to the principles of
privacy, human rights, democracy, and rule of law, to
the extent that these practices are known.''.
(2) Conforming amendment.--Section 116 of such Act, as
amended by paragraph (1), is further amended by adding at the
end the following:
``(h) Consultation Requirement.--
``(1) In general.--In compiling data and making assessments
under subsection (d)(13), United States diplomatic personnel
shall consult with human rights organizations, technology and
internet companies, and other appropriate nongovernmental
organizations.
``(2) Definitions.--In this subsection and in subsection
(d)(13)--
``(A) the term `electronic communication' has the
meaning given such term in section 2510(12) of title
18, United States Code;
``(B) the term `internet' has the meaning given the
term `Internet' in section 231(e)(3) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 231(e)(3));
``(C) the term `personally identifiable
information' means data in a form that identifies a
specific person; and
``(D) the term `wire communication' has the meaning
given such term in section 2510(1) of title 18, United
States Code.''.
(b) Report Relating to Security Assistance.--Section 502B(b) of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304(b)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as
subparagraphs (A) and (B);
(2) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(b)'';
(3) by striking ``Wherever applicable, such report shall
include'' and inserting the following:
``(2) Wherever applicable, each report required under paragraph (1)
shall include--'';
(4) by striking ``consolidated information'' and inserting
the following:
``(A) consolidated information'';
(5) by striking ``Act of 1987). Wherever applicable, such
report shall include information'' and inserting the following:
``Act of 1987);
``(B) information'';
(6) by striking ``sterilization. Such report shall also
include, wherever applicable, information'' and inserting the
following: ``sterilization;
``(C) information'';
(7) by striking ``Act of 1998). Wherever applicable, such
report shall include a description'' and inserting the
following: ``Act of 1998); and
``(D) a description'';
(8) by striking ``Such report shall also include, for each
country'' and inserting the following:
``(3) Each report required under paragraph (1) shall include, for
each country'';
(9) by striking ``Each report under this section shall
list'' and inserting the following:
``(4) Each report required under paragraph (1) shall list'';
(10) by striking ``Each report under this section shall
describe'' and inserting the following:
``(5) Each report required under paragraph (1) shall describe'';
(11) by striking ``Each report under this section shall
also include'' and inserting the following:
``(6) Each report required under paragraph (1) shall include--'';
(12) by striking ``(i) wherever applicable'' and inserting
the following:
``(A) wherever applicable'';
(13) by striking ``hostilities, (ii) what steps'' and
inserting ``hostilities;
``(B) what steps'';
(14) by striking ``practices, and (iii) such other
information'' and inserting ``practices; and
``(C) such other information''; and
(15) by striking ``In determining'' and inserting the
following:
``(7) Each report required under paragraph (1) shall include an
assessment of freedom of expression with respect to electronic
information in each foreign country, which shall consist of--
``(A) an assessment of the extent to which government
authorities in each country attempt to filter, censor, shape,
or otherwise block or remove nonviolent expression of
political, religious, or ideological opinion via the internet,
including electronic mail;
``(B) a description of the means by which such authorities
attempt to block or remove such expression;
``(C) an assessment of the extent to which government
authorities in each country have persecuted or otherwise
punished an individual or group for the nonviolent expression
of political, religious, or ideological opinion or belief via
the internet, including electronic mail;
``(D) an assessment of the extent to which government
authorities in each country have sought to collect, request,
obtain, or disclose personally identifiable information of a
person in connection with such person's nonviolent expression
of political, religious, or ideological opinion or belief on a
foreign platform, including expression that would be protected
by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
done at New York December 19, 1966; and
``(E) an assessment of the extent to which wire
communications and electronic communications are monitored
without regard to the principles of privacy, human rights,
democracy, and rule of law, to the extent that these practices
are known.
``(8) In determining''.
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