I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4782 

To establish a national commission on online platforms and homeland security, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 22, 2019 

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi (for himself, Mr. ROSE of New York, Ms. 

BARRAGA ́N, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. 

RICHMOND, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. CORREA, and Mr. 

CLEAVER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a national commission on online platforms and 

homeland security, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Commission 

5 on Online Platforms and Homeland Security Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL COMMISSION ON ONLINE PLATFORMS 

2 AND HOMELAND SECURITY. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.—There is es4 tablished a National Commission on Online Platforms and 

5 Homeland Security (referred to in this section as the 

6 ‘‘Commission’’). 

7 (b) PURPOSES.—The Commission shall— 

8 (1) identify, examine, and report on the ways, 

9 if any, that online platforms have been utilized in 

10 furtherance of acts of targeted violence, including 

11 domestic terrorism and international terrorism, or 

12 covert foreign state influence campaigns; and 

13 (2) identify, examine, and report on the ways, 

14 if any, that free speech, privacy, civil rights, and 

15 civil liberties are impacted by— 

16 (A) any utilization of online platforms in 

17 furtherance of acts of targeted violence, includ18 ing domestic terrorism and international ter19 rorism, or covert foreign state influence cam20 paigns; and 

21 (B) any policies, procedures, or activities 

22 undertaken by owners and operators of online 

23 platforms to prevent or limit the utilization of 

24 online platforms in furtherance of acts of tar25 geted violence, including domestic terrorism and 


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1 international terrorism, or covert foreign state 

2 influence campaigns; and 

3 (3) develop recommendations, as appropriate, 

4 for how online platforms could address the utiliza5 tion identified pursuant to paragraph (1), if any, in 

6 ways that are transparent and accountable, to pro7 mote free speech and innovation on the internet, 

8 preserve individual privacy, civil rights, and civil lib9 erties, and uphold the principles of the Constitution, 

10 in accordance with relevant existing statutes, includ11 ing section 552a of title 5, United States Code (com12 monly referred to as the Privacy Act of 1974), and 

13 take into account current or anticipated trends and 

14 technological developments, such as advancements in 

15 artificial intelligence. 

16 (c) COMPOSITION OF COMMISSION.— 

17 (1) MEMBERS.—The Commission shall be com18 posed of 12 members, of whom— 

19 (A) two members shall be appointed by the 

20 Committee on Homeland Security in the House 

21 of Representatives, with one member selected 

22 by the Chair and the other selected by the 

23 Ranking Member; 

24 (B) two members shall be appointed by the 

25 Committee on Foreign Affairs in the House of 


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1 Representatives, with one member selected by 

2 the Chair and the other selected by the Ranking 

3 Member; 

4 (C) two members shall be appointed by the 

5 Committee on Energy and Commerce in the 

6 House of Representatives, with one member se7 lected by the Chair and the other selected by 

8 the Ranking Member; 

9 (D) two members shall be appointed by the 

10 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern11 mental Affairs in the Senate, with one member 

12 selected by the Chair and the other selected by 

13 the Ranking Member; 

14 (E) two members shall be appointed by the 

15 Committee on Foreign Relations in the Senate, 

16 with one member selected by the Chair and the 

17 other selected by the Ranking Member; and 

18 (F) two members shall be appointed by the 

19 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans20 portation in the Senate, with one member se21 lected by the Chair and the other selected by 

22 the Ranking Member. 

23 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.— 

24 (A) AREAS OF EXPERTISE.—Individuals 

25 appointed to the Commission shall be United 


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1 States persons with experience in such profes2 sions as privacy, civil rights, civil liberties, com3 puter science and engineering, digital media 

4 and communications, online platform manage5 ment, cybersecurity, information operations, 

6 and national security. The appointment of 

7 members to the Commission shall, to the extent 

8 possible, be coordinated among nominations to 

9 ensure Commission membership represents a 

10 variety of expertise in such fields. 

11 (B) PRIVACY, CIVIL RIGHTS, AND CIVIL

12 LIBERTIES.—Not fewer than four individuals 

13 appointed to the Commission shall be experts in 

14 the fields of privacy, civil rights, or civil lib15 erties. 

16 (C) NON-GOVERNMENT APPOINTEES.—An 

17 individual appointed to the Commission may 

18 not be an officer or employee of the Federal 

19 Government. 

20 (D) NON-INDUSTRY APPOINTEES.—An in21 dividual appointed to the Commission may not 

22 be a current officer, employee, contractor, or 

23 active or significant shareholder of an entity 

24 that owns or operates an online platform. 


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1 (3) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—Members 

2 of the Commission shall be appointed not later than 

3 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 (d) CHAIR.—The Chair shall be chosen from among 

5 the members appointed to the Commission on the basis 

6 of their qualifications with respect to privacy, civil rights, 

7 and civil liberties, through a vote taken by a majority of 

8 Commission members or, in the absence of a majority, by 

9 a plurality of Commission members. 

10 (e) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission shall meet 

11 and begin operating not later than 30 days after the date 

12 of the appointment of its final member. 

13 (f) QUORUM; VACANCIES.—After its initial meeting, 

14 the Commission shall meet upon the call of the Chair or 

15 a majority of its members. Nine members of the Commis16 sion shall constitute a quorum, and members shall have 

17 the option to vote by proxy. Any vacancy in the Commis18 sion shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the 

19 same manner in which the original appointment was made. 

20 (g) STUDY AREAS.—The Commission shall, con21 sistent with the purposes specified in subsection (b), ana22 lyze existing research that relates to the utilization of on23 line platforms in furtherance of acts of targeted violence, 

24 including domestic terrorism and international terrorism, 

25 or covert foreign state influence campaigns, identify any 


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1 areas with respect to which additional research is needed, 

2 and study the following: 

3 (1) The extent to which owners or operators of 

4 online platforms have been able to respond effec5 tively to attempts to use online platforms in further6 ance of acts of targeted violence, including domestic 

7 terrorism and international terrorism, or covert for8 eign state influence campaigns, and what impact, if 

9 any, such responses have had on the privacy, civil 

10 rights, or civil liberties of users. 

11 (2) The ways, if any, that online platforms’ al12 gorithms or other automated decision-making sys13 tems may impact privacy, civil rights, or civil lib14 erties, as well as how such algorithms may affect ac15 tivity on online platforms in furtherance of acts of 

16 targeted violence, including domestic terrorism and 

17 international terrorism, or covert foreign state influ18 ence campaigns. 

19 (3) The extent to which owners or operators of 

20 online platforms have transparent, consistent, and 

21 equitable policies and procedures to enforce terms of 

22 services or codes of conduct, provide notice and an 

23 opportunity for redress, or otherwise address viola24 tions of platform rules, including a consideration of 

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1 cies and procedures, including the recommendations 

2 contained in the Santa Clara Principles on Trans3 parency and Accountability in Content Moderation, 

4 as published on February 2, 2018, or successor prin5 ciples with respect to the extent and impact of con6 tent removals and user suspensions and removals, as 

7 well as principles related to the notice and appeals 

8 of such decisions. 

9 (4) The extent to which owners or operators of 

10 online platforms consistently and effectively enforce 

11 the policies and procedures described in paragraph 

12 (3). 

13 (5) The extent to which owners or operators of 

14 online platforms consider the potential use of online 

15 platforms in furtherance of targeted violence, includ16 ing domestic terrorism and international terrorism, 

17 or covert foreign state influence campaigns, when 

18 evaluating whether to enter into partnerships, adver19 tising agreements, or other business opportunities. 

20 (h) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 

21 (1) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—For the pur22 pose of carrying out this section, the Commission 

23 may— 

24 (A) hold such hearings and sit and act at 

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1 ceive such evidence, and administer such oaths; 

2 and 

3 (B) require, by subpoena authorized by the 

4 majority vote of the Commission, the attend5 ance and testimony of such witnesses and the 

6 production of such books, records, correspond7 ence, memoranda, papers, and documents, as 

8 the Commission may determine advisable. 

9 (2) LIMITATIONS ON SUBPOENA AUTHORITY.— 

10 With respect to the subpoena authority granted in 

11 paragraph (1)(B), the Commission— 

12 (A) may only issue a subpoena to an owner 

13 or operator of an online platform; 

14 (B) may not, under any circumstances, 

15 issue a subpoena for information related to an 

16 individual user or group of users; 

17 (C) may not share, disclose, publish, or 

18 transmit in any way any information obtained 

19 through subpoena to a Federal department or 

20 agency, any agency of a State, local, Tribal, or 

21 territorial government, or any international 

22 body; 

23 (D) may not share, disclose, publish, or 

24 transmit in any way any information obtained 

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1 nization outside the Commission unless three2 fourths of Commission members approve such 

3 action and that and that any such sharing, dis4 closure, publishing, or transmission be reason5 ably necessary to further the Commission’s 

6 goals; and 

7 (E) shall comply with requirements for the 

8 issuance of a subpoena issued by a United 

9 States district court under the Federal Rules of 

10 Civil Procedure. 

11 (3) PUBLIC MEETINGS AND RELEASE OF PUB12 LIC VERSIONS OF REPORTS.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission 

14 shall— 

15 (i) hold public hearings and meetings, 

16 as appropriate; 

17 (ii) hold closed or classified hearings 

18 or meetings, as appropriate; 

19 (iii) provide an opportunity for public 

20 comment, including sharing of research 

21 and policy analysis, through publication in 

22 the Federal Register of a solicitation for 

23 public comments during a period to last 

24 not fewer than 45 days; and 


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1 (iv) release a public version of the re2 port required under subsection (k)(2). 

3 (B) CONDUCT.—Any public hearing, meet4 ing, or reporting of the Commission under this 

5 paragraph shall be conducted in a manner con6 sistent with the protection of information pro7 vided to or developed for or by the Commission 

8 as required by any applicable statute, regula9 tion, or Executive order. 

10 (4) OBLIGATION TO PROTECT PERSONAL IN11 FORMATION.—Whether or not the Commission re12 ceives personally identifiable information through the 

13 exercise of subpoena authority pursuant to para14 graph (1)(B), neither the Commission nor any mem15 ber of the Commission may publish, disclose, or re16 lease such information publicly or to a Federal de17 partment or agency, an agency of a State, local, 

18 Tribal, or territorial government, any international 

19 body, or any other individual or organization outside 

20 the Commission. 

21 (5) OBLIGATION TO PROTECT PROPRIETARY IN22 FORMATION.—In the event that the Commission de23 termines that information received from an owner or 

24 operator of an online platform includes confidential 

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1 etary information, the Commission shall ensure such 

2 information is not published, disclosed, or released 

3 to any individual or organization outside the Com4 mission. 

5 (6) COORDINATION WITH AND ASSISTANCE TO

6 THE UNDER SECRETARY FOR SCIENCE AND TECH7 NOLOGY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECU8 RITY.—The Commission may, to the extent prac9 ticable— 

10 (A) consult with the Under Secretary for 

11 Science and Technology of the Department of 

12 Homeland Security on the research conducted 

13 in accordance with section 3; and 

14 (B) provide assistance in furtherance of 

15 such research, as appropriate. 

16 (7) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMA17 TION.—In providing testimony or producing books, 

18 records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, docu19 ments, or any other information or materials to the 

20 Commission, either to comply with a subpoena 

21 issued under this subsection or for any other pur22 pose, owners or operators of online platforms should 

23 review such information or materials for personally 

24 identifiable information and should remove such in25 formation. 


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1 (i) STAFF OF COMMISSION.—The Chair, in consulta2 tion with the Vice Chair, and in accordance with rules 

3 agreed upon by the Commission, may appoint and fix the 

4 compensation of a staff director and such other personnel 

5 as may be necessary to enable the Commission to carry 

6 out its functions, without regard to the provisions of title 

7 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the 

8 competitive service, and without regard to the provisions 

9 of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such 

10 title relating to classification and General Schedule pay 

11 rates, except that no rate of pay fixed under this sub12 section may exceed the equivalent of that payable for a 

13 position at level V of the Executive Schedule under section 

14 5316 of title 5, United States Code. 

15 (j) SECURITY CLEARANCES FOR COMMISSION MEM16 BERS AND STAFF.—The heads of appropriate Federal de17 partments and agencies shall cooperate with the Commis18 sion in expeditiously providing to Commission members 

19 and staff appropriate security clearances to the extent 

20 practicable pursuant to existing procedures and require21 ments, including temporary security clearances, as appro22 priate. No person may be provided access to classified in23 formation under this section without the appropriate secu24 rity clearance. 

25 (k) REPORTS OF COMMISSION; TERMINATION.— 


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1 (1) INTERIM REPORTS.—Not later than one 

2 year after the first meeting of the Commission, the 

3 Chair shall report to Congress on the activities of 

4 the Commission and share interim findings, as have 

5 been agreed to by a majority of Commission mem6 bers. 

7 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than two years 

8 after the first meeting of the Commission, the Chair 

9 shall submit to the President and Congress a report 

10 that contains any findings and recommendations 

11 agreed to by a majority of Commission members to 

12 address the areas of study under subsection (g), in13 cluding relating to the following: 

14 (A) Policy mechanisms that would address 

15 the Commission’s findings in a manner that 

16 promotes free speech and innovation on the 

17 internet, preserves individual privacy, civil 

18 rights, and civil liberties, and upholds the prin19 ciples of the Constitution. 

20 (B) Policies and procedures that owners or 

21 operators of online platforms could implement 

22 to address such areas of study that preserve the 

23 individual privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties 

24 of online platform users. 


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1 (C) Mechanisms to improve transparency 

2 and accountability related to the matters de3 scribed in subsection (g), including any best 

4 practices identified pursuant to paragraph (3) 

5 of such subsection. 

6 (D) Areas with respect to which additional 

7 research is required, informed by the evaluation 

8 of prior research, as required under subsection 

9 (g). 

10 (E) Other matters identified by the major11 ity of Commission members. 

12 (3) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall ter13 minate on the date that is 90 days after the date on 

14 which the final report under paragraph (2) is sub15 mitted. 

16 (l) ACTION PLAN.—Not later than 180 days after 

17 submission of the final report of the Commission pursuant 

18 to paragraph (2) of subsection (k), the Secretary of Home19 land Security shall issue an action plan in response to 

20 findings and recommendations under subparagraph (D) of 

21 such paragraph. 

22 (m) PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT EXEMPTION.— 

23 Subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States 

24 Code, shall not apply to this section. 


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1 (n) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec2 tion may be construed to confer any authority, including 

3 law enforcement authority, beyond that which is author4 ized under existing law. 

5 SEC. 3. RESEARCH. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary for Science 

7 and Technology of the Department of Homeland Security 

8 shall— 

9 (1) analyze existing research regarding previous 

10 acts of targeted violence, including domestic ter11 rorism or international terrorism; 

12 (2) carry out research to better understand 

13 whether any connection exists between the use of on14 line platforms, particularly platforms used for social 

15 media and social networking, and targeted violence, 

16 including domestic terrorism and international ter17 rorism, that takes into consideration how the organi18 zation, structure, and presentation of information on 

19 an online platform contributes, or does not con20 tribute, to acts of targeted violence, including do21 mestic terrorism or international terrorism; and 

22 (3) develop voluntary approaches that could be 

23 adopted by owners and operators of online platforms 

24 to address research findings under paragraph (2), 


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1 while preserving the individual privacy, civil rights, 

2 and civil liberties of users. 

3 (b) PARTNERSHIP.—In carrying out this section, the 

4 Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the De5 partment of Homeland Security shall, to the extent prac6 ticable, coordinate with the National Commission on On7 line Platforms and Homeland Security under section 2, 

8 as well as academic institutions, non-profit organizations, 

9 the private sector, and Federal, State, local, and Tribal 

10 partners, as appropriate. 

11 (c) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

12 of the enactment of this section, the Under Secretary for 

13 Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland 

14 Security shall submit to Congress a report related to the 

15 research and development required under subsection (a). 

16 (d) PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT EXEMPTION.— 

17 Subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States 

18 Code, shall not apply to this section. 

19 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) COVERT FOREIGN STATE INFLUENCE CAM22 PAIGNS.—The term ‘‘covert foreign state influence 

23 campaigns’’ means the coordinated and covert appli24 cation of state diplomatic, informational, military, 

25 economic, business, corruption, educational, or other 


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1 capability by foreign state actors to the United 

2 States to affect elections in the United States. 

3 (2) DOMESTIC TERRORISM.—The term ‘‘domes4 tic terrorism’’ has the meaning given such term in 

5 section 2331 of title 18, United States Code. 

6 (3) INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM.—The term 

7 ‘‘international terrorism’’ has the meaning given 

8 such term in section 2331 of title 18, United States 

9 Code. 

10 (4) ONLINE PLATFORM.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘online plat12 form’’ means internet-based information serv13 ices consisting of the storage and processing of 

14 information by and at the request of a content 

15 provider and the dissemination of such content 

16 to third parties. 

17 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—Such term does not in18 clude the following: 

19 (i) Platforms that offer journalistic or 

20 editorial content (not including editorial 

21 decisions by online platforms to rank and 

22 organize third party content). 

23 (ii) Applications and functionalities 

24 that enable private communications, such 


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1 as email, direct messages, and encrypted 

2 communication services. 

3 (iii) Online service providers at layers 

4 of the internet infrastructure other than 

5 the application layer, and cloud IT infra6 structure service providers. 

7 (5) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMA8 TION.—The term ‘‘personally identifiable informa9 tion’’ means any information about an individual 

10 elicited, collected, stored, or maintained by an agen11 cy or owner or operator of an online platform, in12 cluding the following: 

13 (A) Any information that can be used to 

14 distinguish or trace the identity of an indi15 vidual, such as a name, a social security num16 ber, a date and place of birth, a mother’s maid17 en name, or biometric records. 

18 (B) Any other information that is linked or 

19 linkable to an individual, such as medical, edu20 cational, financial, or employment information. 

21 (6) TARGETED VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘targeted 

22 violence’’ means any incident of violence in which an 

23 attacker selects a particular target prior to the inci24 dent of violence so as to suggest an intent to inflict 

25 mass injury or death and may be an act of domestic 


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1 terrorism or international terrorism, or an attack 

2 that otherwise lacks a clearly discernible political or 

3 ideological motivation, such as the June 12, 2016, 

4 nightclub mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, the Oc5 tober 1, 2017, attack on concert-goers at a music 

6 festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the August 3, 

7 2019, mass shooting at a store in El Paso, Texas. 

Æ 


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