I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9850 

To protect and promote American values abroad, including the rights of 

freedom of speech and freedom of expression enshrined in the United 

States Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political 

Rights, through the use of foreign assistance and by assuring U.S. 

law enforcement does not cooperate in censorship abroad. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. JORDAN, and Ms. SALAZAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs 

A BILL 

To protect and promote American values abroad, including 

the rights of freedom of speech and freedom of expression enshrined in the United States Constitution and 

the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 

through the use of foreign assistance and by assuring 

U.S. law enforcement does not cooperate in censorship 

abroad. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Funding or En3 forcement of Censorship Abroad Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) On March 5, 2018, U.S. FBI agents, in7 cluding a special agent, a Cyber Operations super8 visor, and a Department of Justice agent special9 izing in counterespionage to thwart foreign inter10 ference, met with a special council of the Brazilian 

11 Superior Electoral Court (TSE) to discuss efforts by 

12 the United States Department of Justice and the 

13 FBI to fight ‘‘fake news’’ and ‘‘protecting the integ14 rity of elections’’. 

15 (2) Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre 

16 de Moraes received and implemented recommenda17 tions on censoring content from several non-govern18 mental organizations (NGOs), including the Digital 

19 Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), which is funded 

20 by the U.S. Agency for International Development 

21 (USAID) and the U.S. State Department. 

22 (3) In 2022, the National Science Foundation 

23 (NSF), supported by the U.S. Congress, gave a 

24 $200,000 grant to the George Washington Univer25 sity for countering disinformation in Brazil and 

26 three other countries. 


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1 (4) Throughout 2022 and 2023, Justice de 

2 Moraes banned Paulo Figueiredo, a Brazilian jour3 nalist living in the U.S., from social media platforms 

4 in Brazil. 

5 (5) In August 2023, the Consortium for Elec6 tions and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS), 

7 which is funded by the Global Elections and Political 

8 Transitions (GEPT) Program at USAID, formed a 

9 key partnership with the Superior Electoral Court in 

10 Brazil (TSE) and worked together to discuss censor11 ship strategies. 

12 (6) In December 2023, Justice de Moraes de13 manded that Rumble, a video-sharing platform with 

14 its corporate headquarters in the United States, re15 move certain creators from its platform. 

16 (7) Later that month, Rumble suspended its 

17 service in Brazil rather than comply with the unlaw18 ful demands of Justice de Moraes. 

19 (8) On April 3, 2024, Michael Shellenberger 

20 published the ‘‘Twitter Files—Brazil’’ sharing Jus21 tice de Moraes’s illegal demands for Twitter to dis22 close information about users in 2020. 

23 (9) On April 6, 2024, X (formerly known as 

24 Twitter), an American technology company, anVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Oct 10, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9850.IH H9850

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1 nounced that a Brazilian court had forced it to block 

2 certain accounts in Brazil. 

3 (10) On April 7, 2024, Justice de Moraes an4 nounced a criminal investigation into Elon Musk, 

5 the owner of X and a U.S. citizen, for spreading 

6 disinformation, obstructing justice, and continuing 

7 to allow people de Moraes banned to express their 

8 views on X. 

9 (11) On April 18 and 19, 2024, Brazilian Fed10 eral Police published two reports suggesting that Mi11 chael Shellenberger was under investigation for pub12 lishing the ‘‘Twitter Files—Brazil’’. 

13 (12) In August 2024, Brazil’s Supreme Court 

14 instituted a ban on X. 

15 (13) As of September 2024, the U.S. Depart16 ment of State has remained silent and neglected its 

17 mission to champion democratic institutions and 

18 human rights. 

19 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

20 It is the sense of Congress that the United States 

21 Government should promote the universal values of free22 dom of speech and freedom of expression around the world 

23 and should not facilitate nor promote online censorship 

24 through foreign assistance programs and should not facili25 tate nor promote online censorship through cooperation 


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1 with foreign governments and their law enforcement agen2 cies. 

3 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE THAT ENCOURAGES 

4 ONLINE CENSORSHIP. 

5 (a) No assistance may be furnished under the For6 eign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), for 

7 the benefit of any foreign entity if the Secretary of State 

8 has credible information that such foreign entity has en9 gaged in, facilitated, or promoted, or will imminently en10 gage in, facilitate, or promote censorship of lawful speech 

11 online. 

12 (b) The prohibition in subsection (a) shall not apply 

13 if the Secretary determines and reports to the appropriate 

14 congressional committees that the foreign entity has 

15 ceased engaging in, facilitating, or promoting online cen16 sorship. 

17 SEC. 5. RESTRICTION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT COOPERA18 TION WITH FOREIGN ONLINE CENSORSHIP. 

19 (a) No assistance or cooperation may be furnished 

20 by Federal law enforcement officials in response to a re21 quest from a foreign law enforcement agency if the Attor22 ney General has credible information that such a request 

23 will cause, facilitate, or promote censorship of protected 

24 speech online. 


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1 (b) In making a determination under this section, the 

2 Attorney General shall consult with the Secretary of State 

3 and, as appropriate, the Director of National Intelligence. 

4 (c) The Attorney General shall provide a report to 

5 the appropriate congressional committees on an annual 

6 basis listing and describing all determinations made under 

7 this section, which may be submitted in classified form. 

8 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT11 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com12 mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Rela13 tions, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Com14 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate, and the 

15 Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on 

16 the Judiciary, and the Committee on Appropriations 

17 of the House of Representatives. 

18 (2) FOREIGN ENTITY.—The term ‘‘foreign enti19 ty’’ means— 

20 (A) any agency, ministry, office, or sub21 division of a foreign government; 

22 (B) an international organization; or 

23 (C) a nongovernmental organization with 

24 operations outside of the United States. 


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1 (3) FOREIGN LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.— 

2 The term ‘‘foreign law enforcement agency’’ has the 

3 meaning given such term in section 44, title 15 of 

4 the United States Code. 

5 (4) ONLINE CENSORSHIP.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘online cen7 sorship’’ means— 

8 (i) a request or demand that an elec9 tronic communications service provider, as 

10 such term is defined in section 2510 of 

11 title 18 of the United States Code, with its 

12 headquarters in the United States remove, 

13 disable, suppress, or otherwise censor a 

14 communication on its service that contains 

15 protected speech and is not otherwise pro16 hibited by the provider’s terms of service; 

17 and 

18 (ii) orders issued by Brazilian Su19 preme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes 

20 to electronic communications services pro21 viders with their headquarters in the 

22 United States after January 1, 2022, that 

23 demand that the electronic communications 

24 services provider remove, disable, suppress, 

25 or otherwise censor a communication on its 


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1 service that contains protected speech and 

2 is not otherwise prohibited by the pro3 vider’s terms of service. 

4 (B) EXCEPTION.—The term ‘‘online cen5 sorship’’ shall not include— 

6 (i) any request or demand related to 

7 the communications of, or content posted 

8 by, a foreign terrorist organization des9 ignated under section 219 of the Immigra10 tion and Nationality Act; and 

11 (ii) any request or demand related to 

12 an apparent violation of sections 2251, 

13 2251A, 2252, 2252A, 2252B, of 2260 that 

14 involves child pornography, of section 1591 

15 (if the violation involves a minor), or of 

16 section 2422(b) of title 18 of the United 

17 States Code. 

18 (5) PROTECTED SPEECH.—The term ‘‘protected 

19 speech’’ means speech protected under the First 

20 Amendment of the Constitution of the United States 

21 or speech that would be so protected if the speaker 

22 were located in the United States. 

Æ 


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