116 S5076 IS: Iran Internet Freedom Act
U.S. Senate
2024-09-17
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II
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5076
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 17, 2024
Mr. Cardin (for himself and Mr. Lankford) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
A BILL
To require periodic updates to the comprehensive strategy to promote Internet freedom and access to information in Iran, to authorize grants to support and develop programs in Iran that promote or expand an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure Internet, and for other purposes.
1.

Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Iran Internet Freedom Act”.
2.

Updates to comprehensive strategy to promote Internet freedom and access to information in Iran
(a)

Updates
Section 414 of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8754) is amended—
(1)
in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “Not later than” and inserting the following:
“(a)

Initial strategy
Not later than”;
(2)
in subsection (a), as redesignated—
(A)
by redesignating paragraphs (11) and (12) as paragraphs (14) and (15), respectively; and
(B)
by inserting after paragraph (10) the following:
“(11)
evaluate the use of virtual private networks by civil society and human rights activists in Iran and develop strategies for increasing the accessibility to such networks;
(12)
develop guidance for the Department of the Treasury to ensure that enforcement of sanctions does not prevent companies from providing Iranian civilians with the technology and other tools necessary to access the open Internet;
(13)
assess the ability of the Iranian regime to cut off all access to the Internet and develop a strategy to circumvent Internet blackouts for Iranian civil society;”; and
(3)
by adding at the end the following:
“(b)

Mandatory update
Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of the Iran Internet Freedom Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the heads of other Federal agencies, as appropriate, shall—
(1)
review and update the strategy to more effectively address the objectives described in subsection (a); and
(2)
submit the updated strategy to the appropriate congressional committees.
(c)

Periodic reviews; updates
The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Treasury, and the heads of other Federal agencies, as appropriate, shall—
(1)
periodically review the strategy submitted pursuant to subsection (a); and
(2)
whenever such review reveals the need to modify such strategy to more effectively address the objectives described in subsection (a), submit an updated strategy to the appropriate congressional committees.
(d)

Form
Each strategy required under this section shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.”.
3.

Programming and support to circumvent Iranian internet censorship
(a)

Grants To support Internet freedom technology programs in Iran
The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development and the President of the Open Technology Fund, as appropriate, may award grants and contracts to private organizations to support and develop programs in Iran that promote or expand—
(1)
an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure Internet; and
(2)
the online exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms of individual citizens, activists, human rights defenders, independent journalists, civil society organizations, and marginalized populations in Iran.
(b)

Goals
The goals of the programs developed with grants authorized under subsection (a) should be—
(1)
to support unrestricted access to the Internet in Iran;
(2)
to increase the availability of internet freedom tools in Iran;
(3)
to scale up the distribution of such technologies and tools throughout Iran;
(4)
to conduct research on repressive tactics that undermine internet freedom in Iran;
(5)
to ensure information on digital safety is available to human rights defenders, independent journalists, civil society organizations, and marginalized populations in Iran; and
(6)
to engage private industry, including e-commerce firms and social networking companies, regarding the importance of preserving unrestricted Internet access in Iran.
(c)

Grant recipients
Grants authorized under this section shall be distributed to multiple vendors and suppliers through an open, fair, competitive, and evidence-based decision process—
(1)
to diversify the technical base; and
(2)
to reduce the risk of misuse by bad actors.
(d)

Security audits
New technologies developed using grants authorized under this section shall undergo comprehensive security audits to ensure that such technologies are secure and have not been compromised in a manner detrimental to—
(1)
the interests of the United States; or
(2)
individuals or organizations benefitting from programs supported by such funding.
(e)

Authorization of appropriations
(1)

In general
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Open Technology Fund, in addition to the amount appropriated for the Open Technology Fund pursuant to section 1299P(d) of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116–283), $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2025 and 2026 to carry out the grant program authorized under this section.
(2)

Availability
Amounts appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1) shall remain available until expended.