,i  #aagth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #icig  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,december #a1        
#bjbb,ms4 ,spanberger 7for herself1 ,mr4
 ,stewart1 and ,mr4 ,keating7 introduced
 the following bill2 which was referred 
to the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs  
,a ,,bill  ,to promote global internet  
freedom4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act   
may be cited as the ,internet ,freedom  
and ,operations ,act of #bjbb or ,,info 
,act of #bjbb4  #b4 ,global internet    
freedom  7a7 ,findings ,congress finds  
the following3 7#a7 ,more than          
#c1jjj1jjj1jjj people use the internet  
around the world every day to access    
information4  7#b7 ,authoritarian and   
repressive governments routinely use    
internet access as a means of           
suppressing information sharing and     
communications between people1 civil    
society organizations1 and journalists4 
7#c7 ,following the arrest and          
subsequent murder of a #bb-year-old     
woman1 ,mahsa ,amini1 while in the      

custody of ,iran's 8morality police01   
the government imposed severe internet  
and mobile network restrictions1 in an  
attempt to isolate and intimidate its   
people4  7#d7 ,under the cover of such  
internet blackouts1 the ,iranian        
,government has intensified a brutal    
crackdown on peaceful protestors1       
killing hundreds and arresting thousands
 more4  7#e7 ,following its illegal     
invasion of ,ukraine1 the ,russian      
,government has sought to restrict      
access to independent reporting and     
eliminate free speech by forcing the    
closure of independent press outlets and
 banning social media websites4  7#f7   
,under this expanding policy of state   
censorship and surveillance1 the        
,russian ,government has blocked over   
#c1cjj websites1 including both social  
media sites such as ,facebook1          
,instagram1 and ,twitter1 as well as the
 ,,bbc1 ,associated ,press1 and other   
international news outlets4  7#g7 ,this 
authoritarian abuse of technology has   

dramatically reduced access to          
independent information and has         
increased the ,kremlin's control over   
the daily lives of the ,russian people  
through secret monitoring systems       
designed to unmask and surveil          
government critics and democracy        
activists4  7#h7 ,the ,united ,states   
has a commitment to promote and uphold a
 free and open internet globally4  7#i7 
,the demand for internet freedom        
software1 tools1 and technology has     
increased exponentially in recent years 
as authoritarian regimes have pursued   
policies of censorship and surveillance4
  7b7 ,sense of ,congress ,it is the    
sense of ,congress that-- 7#a7 the      
,united ,states should provide direct   
assistance to technology and            
communications entities engaged in      
internet freedom programs in countries  
restricting internet access and         
repressing democratic and civil society2
 and  7#b7 the ,united ,states should   
help grow the capacity of these entities

 to respond rapidly to censorship events
 by supporting the development1         
licensing1 and launch of platforms that 
enable direct internet access and       
circumvent authoritarian governments'   
restrictions4  7c7 ,statement of policy 
,it is the policy of the ,united ,states
 to promote internet freedom through    
programs of the ,department of ,state   
and the ,united ,states ,agency for     
,international ,development 7referred to
 in this section as ,,usaid7 that       
preserve and expand the internet as an  
open1 global space for freedom of       
expression and association1 which shall 
be prioritized for countries-- 7#a7     
whose governments restrict freedom of   
expression on the internet2 and  7#b7   
that are important to the national      
interest of the ,united ,states4  7d7   
,purpose and coordination with other    
programs ,global internet freedom       
programming under this section-- 7#a7   
shall be coordinated with other ,united 
,states foreign assistance programs that

 promote democracy and support the      
efforts of civil society-- 7,a7 to      
counter the development of repressive   
internet-related laws and regulations1  
including countering threats to internet
 freedom at international organizations2
  7,b7 to combat violence against       
bloggers and other civil society        
activists who utilize the internet2 and 
7,c7 to enhance digital security        
training and capacity building for      
democracy activists2  7#b7 shall seek to
 assist efforts-- 7,a7 to research key  
threats to internet freedom2  7,b7 to   
continue the development of technologies
 that provide or enhance access to the  
internet1 including circumvention tools 
that bypass internet blocking1          
filtering1 and other censorship         
techniques used by authoritarian        
governments2 and  7,c7 to maintain the  
technological advantage of the ,federal 
,government over the censorship         
techniques described in subparagraph    
7,b72 and  7#c7 shall be incorporated   

into country assistance and democracy   
promotion strategies1 as appropriate4   
7e7 ,authorization of appropriations    
,there are authorized to be appropriated
 for fiscal year #bjbc-- 7#a7           
#ge1jjj1jjj to the ,department of ,state
 and ,,usaid1 which shall be used to    
continue efforts to promote internet    
freedom globally1 and shall be matched1 
to the maximum extent practicable1 by   
sources other than the ,federal         
,government1 including the private      
sector2 and  7#b7 #di1jjj1jjj to the    
,united ,states ,agency for ,global     
,media 7referred to in this section as  
the ,,usagm7 and its grantees1 which    
shall be used for internet freedom and  
circumvention technologies that are     
designed-- 7,a7 for open-source tools   
and techniques to securely develop and  
distribute digital content produced by  
the ,,usagm and its grantees2  7,b7 to  
facilitate audience access to such      
digital content on websites that are    
censored2  7,c7 to coordinate the       

distribution of such digital content to 
targeted regional audiences2 and  7,d7  
to promote and distribute such tools and
 techniques1 including digital security 
techniques4  7f7 ,united states agency  
for global media activities  7#a7       
,annual certification ,for any new tools
 or techniques authorized under         
subsection 7d77#b71 the ,chief          
,executive ,officer of the ,,usgam1 in  
consultation with the ,president of the 
,open ,technology ,fund 7referred to in 
this subsection as the ,,otf 7 and      
relevant ,federal departments and       
agencies1 shall submit an annual        
certification to the appropriate        
congressional committees that verifies  
they-- 7,a7 have evaluated the risks and
 benefits of such new tools or          
techniques2 and  7,b7 have established  
safeguards to minimize the use of such  
new tools or techniques for illicit     
purposes4  7#b7 ,information sharing    
,the ,secretary of ,state may not direct
 programs or policy of the ,,usagm or   

the ,,otf1 but may share any research   
and development with relevant ,federal  
departments and agencies for the        
exclusive purposes of-- 7,a7 sharing    
information1 technologies1 and best     
practices2 and  7,b7 assessing the      
effectiveness of such technologies4     
7#c7 ,united states agency for global   
media ,the ,chief ,executive ,officer of
 the ,,usagm1 in consultation with the  
,president of the ,,otf1 shall-- 7,a7   
coordinate international broadcasting   
programs and incorporate such programs  
into country broadcasting strategies1 as
 appropriate2  7,b7 solicit project     
proposals through an open1 transparent1 
and competitive application process1    
including by seeking input from         
technical and subject matter experts2   
and  7,c7 support internet circumvention
 tools and techniques for audiences in  
countries that are strategic priorities 
for the ,,otf1 in accordance with       
,,usagm's annual language service       
prioritization review4  7g7 ,usagm      

report ,not later than #abj days after  
the date of the enactment of this ,act1 
the ,chief ,executive ,office of the    
,,usagm shall submit a report to the    
appropriate congressional committees    
that describes-- 7#a7 as of the date of 
the report-- 7,a7 the full scope of     
internet freedom programs within the    
,,usagm1 including-- 7i7 the efforts of 
the ,office of ,internet ,freedom2 and  
7ii7 the efforts of the ,open           
,technology ,fund2  7,b7 the capacity of
 internet censorship circumvention tools
 supported by the ,office of ,internet  
,freedom and grantees of the ,open      
,technology ,fund that are available for
 use by individuals in foreign countries
 seeking to counteract censors2 and     
7,c7 any barriers to the provision of   
the efforts described in clauses 7i7 and
 7ii7 of subparagraph 7,a71 including   
access to surge funding2 and  7#b7      
successful examples from the ,office of 
,internet ,freedom and ,open ,technology
 ,fund involving-- 7,a7 responding      

rapidly to internet shutdowns in closed 
societies2 and  7,b7 ensuring           
uninterrupted circumvention services for
 ,,usagm entities to promote internet   
freedom within repressive regimes4  7h7 
,joint report ,not later than #abj days 
after the date of the enactment of this 
,act1 the ,secretary of ,state and the  
,administrator of ,,usaid shall jointly 
submit a report1 which may include a    
classified annex1 to the appropriate    
congressional committees that           
describes-- 7#a7 as of the date of the  
report-- 7,a7 the full scope of internet
 freedom programs within the ,department
 of ,state and ,,usaid1 including-- 7i7 
,department circumvention efforts2 and  
7ii7 ,,usaid efforts to support internet
 infrastructure2  7,b7 the capacity of  
internet censorship circumvention tools 
supported by the ,federal ,government   
that are available for use by           
individuals in foreign countries seeking
 to counteract censors2 and  7,c7 any   
barriers to provision of the efforts    

enumerated in clauses 7i7 and 7ii7 of   
subsection 7g77#a77;,a71 including      
access to surge funding2 and  7#b7 any  
new resources needed to provide the     
,federal ,government with greater       
capacity to provide and boost internet  
access-- 7,a7 to respond rapidly to     
internet shutdowns in closed societies2 
and  7,b7 to provide internet           
connectivity to foreign locations where 
the provision of additional internet    
access service would promote freedom    
from repressive regimes4  7i7 ,security 
audits ,before providing any support for
 open source technologies under this    
section1 such technologies must undergo 
comprehensive security audits to ensure 
that such technologies are secure and   
have not been compromised in a manner   
that is detrimental to the interest of  
the ,united ,states or to the interests 
of individuals and organizations        
benefitting from programs supported by  
such funding4  7j7 ,surge  7#a7         
,authorization of appropriations        

,subject to paragraph 7#b71 there is    
authorized to be appropriated1 in       
addition to amounts otherwise made      
available for such purposes1 #b1ejj1jjj 
to support internet freedom programs in 
closed societies1 including programs    
that-- 7,a7 are carried out in crisis   
situations by vetted entities that are  
already engaged in internet freedom     
programs2  7,b7 involve circumvention   
tools2 or  7,c7 increase the overseas   
bandwidth for companies that received   
,federal funding during the previous    
fiscal year4  7#b7 ,certification       
,amounts authorized to be appropriated  
pursuant to paragraph 7#a7 may not be   
expended until the ,secretary of ,state 
has certified to the appropriate        
congressional committees1 the ,committee
 on ,appropriations of the ,senate1 and 
the ,committee on ,appropriations of the
 ,house of ,representatives that the use
 of such funds is in the national       
interest of the ,united ,states4  7k7   
,definitions ,in this section-- 7#a7 the

 term appropriate congressional         
committees means the ,committee on      
,foreign ,affairs of the ,house of      
,representatives and the ,committee on  
,foreign ,relations of the ,senate2     
7#b7 the term internet censorship       
circumvention tool means a software     
application or other tool that an       
individual can use to evade foreign     
government restrictions on internet     
access2 and  7#c7 the term 8vetted      
entity0 means a private company or      
organization that has an established    
contractual relationship or is in the   
process of becoming a new vendor for    
internet freedom programs of ,,usagm4