II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4575 

To ensure that the United States Government advocates for a free internet. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 

Mr. GARDNER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To ensure that the United States Government advocates 

for a free internet. 

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 ‘‘Free the Internet 

5 around the Globe to Hack Tyranny and Censorship Act’’ 

6 or the ‘‘FIGHT Censorship Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist10 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

11 Commerce for Communications and Information. 


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1 (2) UNITED STATES INTERNET FREEDOM POL2 ICY.—The term ‘‘United States internet freedom 

3 policy’’ means the policy under section 3(b). 

4 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF UNITED STATES POLICY ON COM5 MITMENT TO INTERNET FREEDOM. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

7 (1) the internet has revolutionized communica8 tions and is one of the most transformative techno9 logical developments of the 20th century; 

10 (2) the internet is a powerful tool that facili11 tates the exercise of human rights and fundamental 

12 freedoms, including freedoms of expression, associa13 tion, peaceful assembly, and religion or belief; 

14 (3) the internet has vastly improved economic 

15 freedom for connected individuals around the world 

16 and driven a global increase in trade, commercial ac17 tivity, and innovation; 

18 (4) the internet is intended to be universal, and 

19 a segmented or fractured internet puts protection of 

20 human rights and fundamental freedoms at risk; 

21 (5) national governments that pursue aggres22 sive data localization efforts or attempts to reduce 

23 the free flow of information across borders erode 

24 economic opportunity and freedom for their own citi25 zens; 


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1 (6) national governments that own, sponsor, or 

2 largely control social media platforms, telecommuni3 cations providers, or other technological mediums 

4 and use them to further human rights abuses violate 

5 the rights and freedoms described in this subsection; 

6 and 

7 (7) national governments that engage in inter8 net shutdowns, arrests for nonviolent expression on9 line, politically motivated content moderation, and 

10 online political surveillance violate human rights, in11 cluding the rights to privacy and safety, as well as 

12 the fundamental freedoms of their own citizens. 

13 (b) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States— 

14 (1) that the internet should remain open, inter15 operable, reliable, and secure, and grounded in a 

16 transparent, consensus-driven, multi-stakeholder 

17 model; 

18 (2) to uphold human rights and fundamental 

19 freedoms described in subsection (a) domestically 

20 and promote their continued adoption, protection, 

21 and expansion throughout the world; 

22 (3) to engage international partners and na23 tional governments who pledge to uphold the human 

24 rights and fundamental freedoms described in sub25 section (a), and build a coalition of like-minded 


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1 countries to support those rights and freedoms in all 

2 internet-related activities; 

3 (4) that the United States is committed to a 

4 single internet where everyone in the world has ac5 cess to the free exchange of information and ideas; 

6 and 

7 (5) that the United States, its global partners, 

8 and United States companies should ensure that all 

9 national governments adhere to the human rights 

10 and fundamental freedoms described in subsection 

11 (a) in questions of internet policy and work to 

12 counter national governments hostile to those rights 

13 and freedoms. 

14 SEC. 4. NTIA RESPONSIBILITIES. 

15 The Assistant Secretary shall— 

16 (1) adhere to the United States internet free17 dom policy; 

18 (2) communicate the United States internet 

19 freedom policy to appropriate stakeholders during 

20 meetings of international organizations at which the 

21 Assistant Secretary represents the United States in 

22 discussions on internet policy; and 

23 (3) work to advance the United States internet 

24 freedom policy in global fora. 


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1 SEC. 5. INTERNET FREEDOM TASK FORCE. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Commerce 

3 shall establish an Internet Freedom Task Force composed 

4 of— 

5 (1) the National Telecommunications and Infor6 mation Administration; 

7 (2) the United States Patent and Trademark 

8 Office; 

9 (3) the National Institute of Standards and 

10 Technology; and 

11 (4) the International Trade Administration. 

12 (b) COORDINATOR.—The Assistant Secretary shall 

13 coordinate the activities of the Internet Freedom Task 

14 Force. 

15 (c) DUTIES.— 

16 (1) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

17 after the date of enactment of this Act, and each 

18 year thereafter for 4 additional years, the Internet 

19 Freedom Task Force shall submit to Congress a re20 port on the state of global internet freedom. 

21 (2) CONSULTATION.—The Assistant Secretary, 

22 as coordinator of the Internet Freedom Task Force, 

23 shall engage in ongoing consultation with the Direc24 tor of the United States Patent and Trademark Of25 fice, the Director of the National Institute of Stand26 ards and Technology, and the Under Secretary of 


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1 Commerce for International Trade on matters re2 lated to privacy policy, copyright, global free flow of 

3 information, cybersecurity, and innovation in the 

4 internet economy, to ensure that the agency headed 

5 by each such official is advancing policies that re6 flect the United States internet freedom policy. 

7 SEC. 6. ANNUAL DESIGNATIONS OF COUNTRIES THAT FAIL 

8 TO PROVIDE SUFFICIENT INTERNET FREE9 DOM. 

10 The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Sec11 retary of Commerce, shall annually designate countries 

12 that the Secretary of State determines do not provide suf13 ficient internet freedom to their residents, including— 

14 (1) countries with unfavorable domestic laws 

15 that— 

16 (A) restrict the free flow of information; or 

17 (B) deliberately target domestic minority 

18 groups; and 

19 (2) countries advocating for policies at inter20 national fora that conflict with the United States 

21 internet freedom policy. 

22 SEC. 7. INTERNET FREEDOM GRANT PROGRAM. 

23 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of State, 

24 working through the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau 

25 of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and in coordiVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Sep 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4575.IS S4575

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1 nation with other bureaus in the Department of State, 

2 shall administer a grant program to promote internet free3 dom policies worldwide that conform with the United 

4 States internet freedom policy. 

5 (b) ELIGIBLE GRANTEES; GRANT PERIOD.—Grants 

6 authorized under subsection (a) may be awarded to non7 profit and international organizations for a period not to 

8 exceed 5 years. 

9 (c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the grants authorized 

10 under subsection (a) shall be— 

11 (1) to promote anti-censorship technology, in12 cluding censorship-defeating peer-to-peer commu13 nication technology; and 

14 (2) to promote secure communications tech15 nology development, including research on current 

16 and future global cybersecurity policy. 

17 (d) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—Grant funds received 

18 by grant recipients under this section shall be used— 

19 (1) to create open-source and free platforms to 

20 achieve the purposes described in subsection (c); and 

21 (2) for projects operating in countries des22 ignated by the Secretary of State pursuant to sec23 tion 6. 

24 (e) RISK ASSESSMENTS.—The Assistant Secretary 

25 for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor 


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1 shall conduct periodic risk assessments to protect the iden2 tity of grant recipients under this section. 

3 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 $25,000,000, which shall remain available until expended. 

6 SEC. 8. STOP THE CCP INITIATIVE FUND. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

8 Treasury of the United States a trust fund, which shall 

9 be known as the ‘‘Stop the CCP Initiative Fund’’ (referred 

10 to in this section as the ‘‘Fund’’) and shall be adminis11 tered by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the 

12 Secretary of Commerce. 

13 (b) FUNDING.—There is hereby appropriated 

14 $20,000,000 into the Fund. 

15 (c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Fund shall be 

16 to support the development of technologies, including 

17 counter censorship technology and secure communications 

18 technology development— 

19 (1) to counter and circumvent internet censor20 ship within the People’s Republic of China; and 

21 (2) to promote human rights and fundamental 

22 freedoms on the internet in a manner that is con23 sistent with the United States internet freedom pol24 icy. 


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1 (d) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Secretary of State shall 

2 submit an annual report to Congress regarding the activi3 ties supported by the Fund during the 5-year period be4 ginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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