[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8309 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8309

    To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide for the 
  inclusion of additional information relating to internet freedom in 
           Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 8, 2024

Ms. Jacobs (for herself and Ms. Salazar) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide for the 
  inclusion of additional information relating to internet freedom in 
           Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

    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 ``Global Internet Freedom Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) internet freedom is important to the exercise of human 
        rights; and
            (2) the United States Government should proactively promote 
        the principles of internet freedom around the world.

SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RELATING TO INTERNET 
              FREEDOM IN ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS 
              PRACTICES.

     The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended--
            (1) in section 116(d) (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d))--
                    (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:
            ``(12) wherever applicable, the extent to which--
                    ``(A) state or non-state actors create deliberate 
                barriers to access to the internet, including by 
                shutting down connectivity or blocking online content 
                that is protected by international human rights 
                standards; and
                    ``(B) the government engages in undue restrictions 
                on free expression and violations of privacy as they 
                occur online, or legal and extralegal repercussions for 
                online speech or activities that are protected by 
                international human rights standards.''; and
            (2) in section 502B (22 U.S.C. 2304)--
                    (A) by redesignating the second subsection (i) (as 
                added by section 1207(b)(2) of Public Law 113-4) as 
                subsection (j); and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(k) The report required by subsection (b) shall include, wherever 
applicable a description of the extent to which--
            ``(1) state or non-state actors create deliberate barriers 
        to access to the internet, including by shutting down 
        connectivity or blocking online content that is protected by 
        international human rights standards; and
            ``(2) the government engages in undue restrictions on free 
        expression and violations of privacy as they occur online, or 
        legal and extralegal repercussions for online speech or 
        activities that are protected by international human rights 
        standards.''.
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