II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4490 

To promote digital citizenship and media literacy. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 23, 2022 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. BENNET, Ms. SMITH, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, and 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To promote digital citizenship and media literacy. 

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 ‘‘Digital Citizenship and 

5 Media Literacy Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) People in the United States rely on infor9 mation from mass media, social media, and digital 

10 media to make decisions about all aspects of social, 

11 economic, and political life, including products and 


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1 services consumption, employment, career and pro2 fessional development, family and leisure choices, 

3 health and wellness, and democratic engagement. 

4 Ensuring that people in the United States possess 

5 the skills to make these informed decisions based on 

6 media begins early in life. 

7 (2) Adversaries from Russia, China, and Iran 

8 are using information warfare to influence democ9 racies across the world, and terrorist organizations 

10 often use digital communications to recruit mem11 bers. The United States can fight these influences 

12 by ensuring that citizens of the United States pos13 sess the necessary skills to discern disinformation 

14 and misinformation and think critically about their 

15 digital activities. 

16 (3) Media literacy education has proven critical 

17 to allies of the United States in building national re18 silience to foreign disinformation campaigns. Coun19 tries like Estonia, Finland, and Ukraine have devel20 oped and implemented successful media literacy edu21 cation programs in schools that have helped counter 

22 Russian disinformation campaigns. The United 

23 States has also invested in and promoted media lit24 eracy education abroad, including in the Baltics. 


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1 (4) Following Russia’s increased aggression to2 wards Ukraine and the West this year, and Russia’s 

3 invasion of Ukraine, media literacy skills have been 

4 important in ensuring Ukrainians and citizens of 

5 Western allied countries are not influenced by Rus6 sian disinformation. 

7 (5) In order to build similar national resilience 

8 against foreign disinformation in the United States, 

9 Congress has recommended investing in media lit10 eracy education. 

11 (6) The bipartisan and bicameral Cyberspace 

12 Solarium Commission’s 2020 report recommended 

13 that the United States invest in media literacy, writ14 ing that ‘‘[b]y promoting modern civics education 

15 and digital literacy programs, the U.S. Government 

16 can assist in enhancing the average American’s abil17 ity to discern the trustworthiness of online content, 

18 and thereby reduce the impact of malicious foreign 

19 cyber-enabled information campaigns’’, and con20 cluded that Congress should authorize a grant pro21 gram ‘‘to improve digital citizenship and to incor22 porate effective digital literacy curricula in American 

23 classrooms at the K–12 level and beyond’’. 

24 (7) Similarly, the Select Committee on Intel25 ligence of the Senate stated, in a bipartisan report 


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1 released during the 116th Congress, ‘‘Addressing the 

2 challenge of disinformation in the long-term will ulti3 mately need to be tackled by an informed and dis4 cerning population of citizens who are both alert to 

5 the threat and armed with the critical thinking skills 

6 necessary to protect against malicious influence.’’. 

7 The Committee then recommended that a ‘‘public 

8 initiative—propelled by Federal funding but led in 

9 large part by state and local education institutions— 

10 focused on building media literacy from an early age 

11 would help build long-term resilience to foreign ma12 nipulation of our democracy’’. 

13 (8) Media literacy and digital citizenship edu14 cation also empowers young people and is critical to 

15 improving the health and wellness of young people, 

16 preventing cyberbullying, and enabling young people 

17 to make informed decisions about products and serv18 ices, including advertisements and controlled sub19 stances. 

20 (9) Social media and other online activities have 

21 been shown to have serious negative impacts on the 

22 mental and physical health of young people. Many 

23 studies have found that media literacy education is 

24 one of the most successful strategies for countering 

25 body image issues and eating disorders in children. 


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1 The National Eating Disorders Association, in part2 nership with California State University, Northridge, 

3 published a Digital Media Literacy toolkit to help 

4 students, including high school students, learn skills 

5 to think critically about body images and the online 

6 content they see. 

7 (10) Education and childhood development ex8 perts, as well as academic and medical researchers, 

9 have recommended that a key method for preventing 

10 and countering the negative impacts described in 

11 paragraph (9) is to teach media literacy skills to 

12 young people beginning early in their education. 

13 (11) A successful and inclusive media literacy 

14 program must be directed at students beginning in 

15 kindergarten and should continue throughout the 

16 completion of postsecondary education. Media lit17 eracy education must be inclusive and accessible for 

18 all students, including multilingual students, stu19 dents with limited proficiency in English, and stu20 dents with disabilities. Learning to critically analyze 

21 and create media is a lifelong process that can be 

22 developed by integrating media literacy competencies 

23 into academic curriculum across content areas and 

24 disciplines. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist4 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

5 Commerce for Communications and Information. 

6 (2) DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP.—The term ‘‘digital 

7 citizenship’’ means the ability to— 

8 (A) safely, responsibly, and ethically use 

9 communication technologies and digital infor10 mation technology tools and platforms; 

11 (B) create and share media content using 

12 principles of social and civic responsibility and 

13 with awareness of the legal and ethical issues 

14 involved; and 

15 (C) participate in the political, economic, 

16 social, and cultural aspects of life related to 

17 technology, communications, and the digital 

18 world by consuming and creating digital con19 tent, including media. 

20 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti21 ty’’ means— 

22 (A) a State educational agency; 

23 (B) a local educational agency; 

24 (C) a public library; or 

25 (D) a qualified nonprofit organization. 


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1 (4) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘child 

2 with a disability’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘State 

3 educational agency’’, ‘‘specialized instructional sup4 port personnel’’, and ‘‘universal design for learning’’ 

5 have the meanings given those terms in section 8101 

6 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

7 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

8 (5) MEDIA LITERACY.—The term ‘‘media lit9 eracy’’ means the ability to— 

10 (A) access relevant and accurate informa11 tion through media in a variety of forms; 

12 (B) critically analyze media content and 

13 the influences of different forms of media; 

14 (C) evaluate the comprehensiveness, rel15 evance, credibility, authority, and accuracy of 

16 information; 

17 (D) make educated decisions based on in18 formation obtained from media and digital 

19 sources; 

20 (E) operate various forms of technology 

21 and digital tools; and 

22 (F) reflect on how the use of media and 

23 technology may affect private and public life. 


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1 (6) QUALIFIED NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.— 

2 The term ‘‘qualified nonprofit organization’’ means 

3 an organization that— 

4 (A) is described in paragraph (3) or (4) of 

5 section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

6 1986 and is exempt from taxation under section 

7 501(a) of that Code; and 

8 (B) has a mission to improve childhood 

9 education, childhood development, or media lit10 eracy. 

11 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM ESTABLISHED. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary shall es13 tablish a program to promote media literacy, through 

14 which the Assistant Secretary shall award grants to eligi15 ble entities to enable those eligible entities to carry out 

16 the activities described in subsection (c). 

17 (b) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity that desires a 

18 grant under this section shall submit an application to the 

19 Assistant Secretary at such time and in such manner as 

20 the Assistant Secretary may require, including, at a min21 imum— 

22 (1) a description of the activities the eligible en23 tity intends to carry out with the grant funds; 

24 (2) an estimate of the costs associated with 

25 such activities; and 


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1 (3) such other information and assurances as 

2 the Assistant Secretary may require. 

3 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

4 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that 

6 is a State educational agency receiving a grant 

7 under this section shall use grant funds to 

8 carry out one or more of the following activities: 

9 (i) Creating and supporting a media 

10 literacy advisory council to— 

11 (I) provide recommendations 

12 about digital citizenship and media lit13 eracy guidelines; 

14 (II) identify barriers and oppor15 tunities for implementing media lit16 eracy in kindergarten through grade 

17 12 in public schools in the State for 

18 all students, including students who 

19 are children with disabilities; 

20 (III) identify best practices and 

21 effective models for media literacy 

22 education, including incorporating 

23 universal design for learning and pro24 viding additional accommodations for 


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1 students who are children with dis2 abilities when needed; 

3 (IV) identify existing models of 

4 curriculum and existing policies in dif5 ferent States that are aimed at over6 coming the barriers identified in sub7 clause (II); 

8 (V) gather data or conduct re9 search to assess the media literacy 

10 and digital citizenship competencies of 

11 students, teachers, or specialized in12 structional support personnel; 

13 (VI) submit a report to the State 

14 educational agency containing findings 

15 and recommendations regarding the 

16 items identified under this clause; and 

17 (VII) annually update those find18 ings and recommendations. 

19 (ii) Assisting local educational agen20 cies in the development of units of instruc21 tion on media literacy, either as a new sub22 ject or as a part of the existing curriculum. 

23 (iii) Assisting local educational agen24 cies in developing means of evaluating stu25 dent learning in media literacy. 


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1 (iv) Assisting local educational agen2 cies in developing or providing professional 

3 development for teachers that relates to 

4 media literacy. 

5 (B) MEDIA LITERACY ADVISORY COUN6 CIL.— 

7 (i) MEMBERS.—The media literacy 

8 advisory council described in subparagraph 

9 (A)(i) shall include experts in media lit10 eracy, including academic experts, individ11 uals from nonprofit organizations, individ12 uals with expertise in education for stu13 dents who are children with disabilities, 

14 teachers, librarians, representatives from 

15 parent organizations, educators, adminis16 trators, students, and other stakeholders. 

17 (ii) DIVERSITY OF REPRESENTA18 TION.—Such membership shall include rep19 resentation from rural and urban local 

20 educational agencies, small and large 

21 schools, high- and low-resource schools, 

22 teachers of students with disabilities, and 

23 schools in communities from diverse lin24 guistic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds. 

25 (C) GUIDELINES.— 


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1 (i) IN GENERAL.—A State educational 

2 agency that creates a media literacy advi3 sory council under subparagraph (A)(i) 

4 shall, only after consideration of the find5 ings and recommendations described in 

6 subclauses (I) and (VI) of that subpara7 graph, develop and publish on the State 

8 educational agency website inclusive digital 

9 citizenship and media literacy guidelines 

10 for students in kindergarten through grade 

11 12 in public schools in the State. 

12 (ii) REQUIREMENTS.—The guidelines 

13 described in clause (i) shall be designed to 

14 develop media literacy and digital citizen15 ship competencies by promoting stu16 dents’— 

17 (I) research and information flu18 ency; 

19 (II) critical thinking and prob20 lem-solving skills; 

21 (III) technology operations and 

22 concepts; 

23 (IV) information and techno24 logical literacy; 


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1 (V) concepts of media representa2 tion and stereotyping; 

3 (VI) understanding of explicit 

4 and implicit media messages; 

5 (VII) understanding of values 

6 and points of view that are included 

7 and excluded in media content; 

8 (VIII) understanding of how 

9 media may influence ideas and behav10 iors; 

11 (IX) understanding of the impor12 tance of obtaining information from 

13 multiple media sources and evaluating 

14 sources for quality; 

15 (X) understanding how informa16 tion on digital platforms can be al17 tered through algorithms, editing, and 

18 augmented reality; and 

19 (XI) ability to create media in 

20 civically and socially responsible ways. 

21 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—An eligi22 ble entity that is a local educational agency receiving 

23 a grant under this section shall use grant funds to 

24 carry out one or more of the following activities: 


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1 (A) Incorporating digital citizenship and 

2 media literacy into the existing curriculum 

3 (across content and disciplinary areas) or estab4 lishing new educational opportunities to learn 

5 about media literacy. 

6 (B) Employing specialized instructional 

7 support personnel, such as a librarian or other 

8 personnel who can provide instructional services 

9 in media literacy. 

10 (C) Providing funding to educators who 

11 are carrying out activities described in subpara12 graph (A) to further their professional develop13 ment in relation to media literacy, including 

14 funding for traveling to media literacy con15 ferences to share knowledge with regional and 

16 national stakeholders. 

17 (D) Other activities, including student led 

18 efforts, to support, develop, or promote the im19 plementation of media literacy education pro20 grams, policies, teacher preparation, cur21 riculum, or standards. 

22 (3) PUBLIC LIBRARIES.—An eligible entity that 

23 is a public library receiving a grant under this sec24 tion shall use grant funds to carry out activities that 


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1 enhance digital citizenship and media literacy skills 

2 in children. 

3 (4) QUALIFIED NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that 

5 is a qualified nonprofit organization receiving a 

6 grant under this section shall use grant funds 

7 to carry out one or more of the following activi8 ties: 

9 (i) Activities in schools or public set10 tings for children in kindergarten through 

11 grade 12 that enhance digital citizenship 

12 and media literacy skills. 

13 (ii) Other activities to support, de14 velop, or promote the implementation of 

15 media literacy education programs, poli16 cies, teacher preparation, curriculum, or 

17 standards relating to enhancing digital citi18 zenship and media literacy skills for chil19 dren in kindergarten through grade 12. 

20 (B) RESTRICTION.—If a qualified non21 profit organization charges a school or other en22 tity for carrying out activities described in sub23 paragraph (A), the organization may not charge 

24 more than the cost to the organization of car25 rying out the activities. 


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1 (d) REPORTING.— 

2 (1) REPORTS BY ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Not 

3 later than 1 year after the date on which an eligible 

4 entity receives grant funds under this section, the el5 igible entity shall prepare and submit to the Assist6 ant Secretary a report describing the activities the 

7 eligible entity carried out using grant funds and the 

8 effectiveness of those activities. 

9 (2) REPORT BY THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY.— 

10 Not later than 90 days after the Assistant Secretary 

11 receives the report described in paragraph (1) from 

12 the last eligible entity to submit such a report, the 

13 Assistant Secretary shall prepare and submit a re14 port to Congress describing the activities carried out 

15 under this section and the effectiveness of those ac16 tivities. 

17 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

18 It is the sense of Congress that the Assistant Sec19 retary should— 

20 (1) establish and maintain a list of— 

21 (A) eligible entities that receive a grant 

22 under section 4; and 

23 (B) individuals designated by those eligible 

24 entities as participating individuals, such as in25 dividuals serving on a media literacy advisory 


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1 council described in section 4(c)(1)(A)(i) or in2 dividuals carrying out activities authorized 

3 under section 4(c) on behalf of those eligible en4 tities; and 

5 (2) make the list described in paragraph (1) 

6 available to those eligible entities and participating 

7 individuals in order to promote communication and 

8 further exchange of information regarding sound 

9 digital citizenship and media literacy practices 

10 among recipients of a grant under section 4. 

11 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

13 this Act $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023, 2025, 

14 2027, and 2029. 

Æ 


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