I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8838 

To prohibit agencies from taking certain action relating to social media 

companies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2024 

Mr. CLYDE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight 

and Accountability, 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 prohibit agencies from taking certain action relating to 

social media companies, 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 ‘‘Free Speech Defense 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The First Amendment guarantees freedoms 

9 concerning religion, expression, assembly, and petiVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Aug 08, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8838.IH H8838

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1 tion of the government. The First Amendment guar2 antees the freedom of expression by prohibiting the 

3 government from restricting the press or the right of 

4 an individual to speak freely. The First Amendment 

5 also guarantees the right of an individual to assem6 ble peaceably and to petition the government. 

7 (2) The Fourth Amendment states that each in8 dividual is secure from unreasonable searches and 

9 seizures of property by the government. The Fourth 

10 Amendment protects against arbitrary arrests, wire11 taps, and other forms of surveillance conducted with12 out a search warrant. 

13 (3) In July 2021, the White House press sec14 retary, Jen Psaki, admitted that the White House 

15 was working with social media companies to identify 

16 ‘‘misinformation’’. 

17 (4) Specifically, Psaki said, ‘‘[W]e’re regularly 

18 making sure social media platforms are aware of the 

19 latest narratives, dangerous to public health that we 

20 and many other Americans are seeing across all of 

21 social and traditional media.’’ Psaki also said, ‘‘[W]e 

22 work to engage with them to better understand the 

23 enforcement of social media platform policies.’’ 

24 (5) 286 pages of documents produced in July 

25 2022 by the Centers for Disease Control and PreVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Aug 08, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8838.IH H8838

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1 vention, in response to a Freedom of Information 

2 Act request submitted by the America First Legal 

3 Foundation, revealed shocking information, includ4 ing the following: 

5 (A) The Centers for Disease Control and 

6 Prevention sent to officials of Twitter a chart 

7 of tweets that the Centers for Disease Control 

8 and Prevention determined to be ‘‘misinforma9 tion’’. 

10 (B) The Centers for Disease Control and 

11 Prevention held regular BOLO (Be On The 

12 Lookout) meetings in which the Centers for 

13 Disease Control and Prevention would share 

14 with social media companies, including Twitter 

15 and Facebook, what the Centers for Disease 

16 Control and Prevention determined to be ‘‘mis17 information’’. In the meetings, the Centers for 

18 Disease Control and Prevention would provide 

19 slide decks requesting, among other things, 

20 ‘‘[p]lease do not share outside your trust and 

21 safety teams’’. 

22 (C) The Centers for Disease Control and 

23 Prevention recommended to Twitter that infor24 mation about the Vaccine Adverse Event Re25 porting System be added to tweets. 


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1 (D) Officials from the Centers for Disease 

2 Control and Prevention directly engaged with 

3 Facebook, requesting that Facebook flag cer4 tain posts as disinformation and ensure that 

5 ‘‘verifiable information sources’’ were not 

6 blocked because posts on Facebook by State 

7 Health Departments were being blocked as vac8 cine misinformation. 

9 (E) The Centers for Disease Control and 

10 Prevention created a COVID–19 Misinforma11 tion Reporting Channel for the Centers for Dis12 ease Control and Prevention and the Census 

13 Bureau to make reports to Facebook and held 

14 a ‘‘training meeting’’ about the Misinformation 

15 Reporting Channel. 

16 (F) $15,000,000 of Facebook advertising 

17 credits were provided to the Centers for Disease 

18 Control and Prevention and the Department of 

19 Health and Human Services as a ‘‘non-mone20 tary gift’’ to promote vaccines, social 

21 distancing, travel, and priority communication 

22 messages, which may have violated the limita23 tion on voluntary services described in section 

24 1342 of the Antideficiency Act (31 U.S.C. 

25 1342). 


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1 (6) The Secretary of Homeland Security, 

2 Alejandro Mayorkas, failed to provide clear answers 

3 to Congress about the purpose of the Disinformation 

4 Governance Board and the selection of Nina 

5 Jankowicz to lead the Disinformation Governance 

6 Board. 

7 (7) Revealing whistleblower documents uncov8 ered by Senators Josh Hawley and Chuck Grassley 

9 show the shocking extent to which the 

10 Disinformation Governance Board was willing to spy 

11 on Americans, without a warrant, and flag posts for 

12 social media companies as so-called 

13 ‘‘disinformation’’. 

14 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

15 It is the sense of Congress that: 

16 (1) The records produced by the Centers for 

17 Disease Control and Prevention in response to the 

18 Freedom of Information Act request described in 

19 section 2(5) reveal the extent to which the Biden 

20 Administration is willing to engage in unconstitu21 tional and otherwise unlawful activities in total dis22 regard of the rights of the American people. 

23 (2) Secretary Mayorkas, in congressional com24 mittee testimony, failed to provide clear answers to 


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1 Congress about the purpose of the Disinformation 

2 Governance Board. 

3 (3) The antidote to ‘‘misinformation’’ and 

4 ‘‘disinformation’’ is not censorship but more infor5 mation, so the American people can make informed 

6 decisions independently. 

7 (4) The Federal Government should not be al8 lowed to circumvent the Constitution of the United 

9 States through intermediaries and third parties to 

10 violate the rights of the American people to informa11 tion and freedom from intrusion by the Federal Gov12 ernment, even if the information is not consistent 

13 with the views of officials in the Federal Govern14 ment. 

15 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION AGAINST FEDERAL REGULATION OF 

16 SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES. 

17 (a) PROHIBITION AGAINST REGULATION.— 

18 (1) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in para19 graph (2), the head of an agency may not direct or 

20 encourage a social media company to— 

21 (A) remove or suspend a user from the so22 cial media platform of the social media com23 pany; 

24 (B) label content on the social media plat25 form of the social media company as informaVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Aug 08, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8838.IH H8838

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1 tion, disinformation, true, false, or any other 

2 similar characterization; or 

3 (C) share with the agency data or informa4 tion about a particular topic or group of users 

5 on the social media platform of the social media 

6 company, including— 

7 (i) the name, age, or demographic of 

8 the users; and 

9 (ii) the content such users share on 

10 the social media platform of the social 

11 media company. 

12 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—The prohibitions described 

13 in subparagraphs (A) and (C) of paragraph (1) do 

14 not apply to an action taken by the head of an agen15 cy— 

16 (A) pursuant to a warrant— 

17 (i) issued by a Federal court of com18 petent jurisdiction in accordance with the 

19 procedures described in rule 41 of the Fed20 eral Rules of Criminal Procedure; or 

21 (ii) issued by a State court of com22 petent jurisdiction; or 

23 (B) pursuant to a criminal investigation 

24 into, or in response to, an immediate threat to 

25 public safety, including— 


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1 (i) child exploitation; 

2 (ii) human trafficking; 

3 (iii) active streaming of a crime in 

4 progress or another immediate threat to 

5 public safety; or 

6 (iv) activity by a foreign terrorist or7 ganization (as designated by the Secretary 

8 of State, in consultation with the Secretary 

9 of the Treasury and the Attorney General, 

10 under section 219(a) of the Immigration 

11 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a))). 

12 (b) PROHIBITION AGAINST PUBLIC-PRIVATE PART13 NERSHIPS.— 

14 (1) PROHIBITION.—The head of an agency may 

15 not enter into a public-private partnership with a so16 cial media company to monitor any content dissemi17 nated on the social media platform of the social 

18 media company. 

19 (2) EXCEPTION.—The prohibition described in 

20 paragraph (1) does not apply to a public-private 

21 partnership between an agency and a social media 

22 platform relating to addressing immediate threats to 

23 public safety. 

24 (3) TERMINATION OF EXISTING PUBLIC-PRI25 VATE PARTNERSHIPS.—Any public-private partnerVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Aug 08, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8838.IH H8838

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1 ship described in paragraph (1), if in existence on 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, is terminated. 

3 (c) PROHIBITION AGAINST FEDERAL FUNDING.— 

4 Federal funds may not be used to fund any entity that— 

5 (1) classifies or facilitates the classification of 

6 any communication as information, misinformation, 

7 malinformation, disinformation, or any other similar 

8 designation; or 

9 (2) instructs, influences, directs, or recommends 

10 that private companies engage in any censorship, 

11 prohibition, or obstruction of lawful and constitu12 tionally protected speech on a social media platform, 

13 including by— 

14 (A) terminating an account of a user; 

15 (B) temporarily or permanently suspending 

16 an account of a user; 

17 (C) imposing a warning or strike against 

18 an account of a user to chill or deter future 

19 speech; 

20 (D) shadowbanning, or in any way manip21 ulating the audience or reach of, a user; 

22 (E) demonetizing a type of user or content; 

23 (F) adjusting algorithms to suppress or de24 emphasize user-generated content; 

25 (G) deboosting a type of content or user; 


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1 (H) promoting or demoting content; 

2 (I) placing a warning label or explanatory 

3 note on any content; 

4 (J) suppressing content in the feed of a 

5 user; 

6 (K) promoting negative comments about a 

7 type of disfavored content; 

8 (L) requiring an additional click-through 

9 to access content; 

10 (M) deplatforming any content or user; or 

11 (N) any other such method. 

12 (d) PROHIBITION AGAINST SOLICITING OR ACCEPT13 ING FREE OR REDUCED-COST SOCIAL MEDIA ADVER14 TISING.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—An agency employee acting 

16 in an official capacity may not solicit or accept, or 

17 enter into a contract or other agreement (including 

18 a no-cost agreement) for, free or reduced-cost adver19 tising or other promotion on the social media plat20 form of a social media company. 

21 (2) EXCEPTION.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The prohibition de23 scribed in paragraph (1) does not apply to an 

24 action taken by an agency employee to address 


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1 a natural disaster or another immediate threat 

2 to public safety. 

3 (B) EXCLUSION.—The exception described 

4 in subparagraph (A) does not include a public 

5 health emergency. 

6 (3) LIMITATION ON FUNDS.—No Federal funds 

7 may be obligated or expended to— 

8 (A) enter into a contract or other agree9 ment (including a no-cost agreement) for free 

10 or reduced-cost advertising or other promotion 

11 on behalf of the Federal Government on the so12 cial media platform of a social media company; 

13 or 

14 (B) pay the salary or expenses of any 

15 agency employee to solicit or accept free or re16 duced-cost advertising or other promotion on 

17 behalf of the Federal Government on the social 

18 media platform of a social media company. 

19 (e) ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS FOR SENIOR FEDERAL

20 OFFICIALS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—No senior Federal official 

22 may solicit, accept, or use, in their personal capac23 ity, any advertising from a social media company 

24 that is provided free of charge or at a reduced rate 

25 or are otherwise gratuitous. 


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1 (2) EXCEPTION.—Except for a public health 

2 emergency, the prohibition described in paragraph 

3 (1) shall not apply in circumstances where the 

4 United States Government is legally authorized to 

5 accept free or subsidized advertising on social media 

6 platforms, including any instance described in sub7 section (a)(2)(B)(iii), or for public safety announce8 ments, as determined by the relevant agency head, 

9 in consultation with the Office of Government Eth10 ics. 

11 (f) PENALTIES FOR AGENCY EMPLOYEES AND SEN12 IOR FEDERAL OFFICIALS.—An agency employee or senior 

13 Federal official who knowingly and willfully violates sub14 section (d) or subsection (e), respectively, shall be fined 

15 not more than $5,000, imprisoned for not more than 2 

16 years, or both. 

17 (g) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—An individual 

18 whose account, content, or information on the social media 

19 platform of a social media company has been affected in 

20 violation of this Act may file a civil action against the 

21 United States in the United States District Court for the 

22 District of Columbia for reasonable attorneys’ fees, injunc23 tive relief, and actual damages. 

24 (h) REPORT.—Not later than 240 days after the date 

25 of the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter 


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1 through the tenth subsequent year, the Attorney General, 

2 in consultation with the Assistant Attorney General for 

3 Civil Rights and the Office of Special Counsel, shall sub4 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 

5 evaluating the compliance by agencies with this Act, in6 cluding a description of any action by the head of an agen7 cy to— 

8 (1) consult with a social media company about 

9 labeling content on the social media platform of the 

10 social media company as described in subsection 

11 (a)(1)(B); 

12 (2) consult with any third party about censor13 ship by an agency employee; or 

14 (3) engage in any other prohibited activity 

15 under this Act. 

16 (i) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act, or 

17 the application of any such provision to any person or cir18 cumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 

19 of this Act, and the application of such provision to any 

20 other person or circumstance, shall not be affected by the 

21 holding. 

22 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 


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1 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

2 meaning given such term in section 551 of title 5, 

3 United States Code. 

4 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT5 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com6 mittees’’ means— 

7 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary and 

8 the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the 

9 House of Representatives; and 

10 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary and 

11 the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov12 ernmental Affairs of the Senate. 

13 (3) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP.—The term 

14 ‘‘public-private partnership’’ means a cooperative ar15 rangement between 1 or more agencies and an exter16 nal organization, in which the arrangement is di17 rectly involved in monitoring content for public safe18 ty purposes. 

19 (4) SENIOR FEDERAL OFFICIAL.—The term 

20 ‘‘senior Federal official’’ means any agency em21 ployee, including any member of the uniformed serv22 ices (as that term is defined in section 101 of title 

23 37, United States Code), whose basic rate of pay is 

24 at or above the rate of basic pay for level V of the 


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1 Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, 

2 United States Code. 

3 (5) SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANY.—The term ‘‘social 

4 media company’’ means a company that provides, in 

5 or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, a social 

6 media platform. 

7 (6) SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM.—The term ‘‘so8 cial media platform’’— 

9 (A) means a website or internet medium 

10 that— 

11 (i) permits a person to become a reg12 istered user, establish an account, or create 

13 a profile for the purpose of allowing users 

14 to create, share, and view user-generated 

15 content through such an account or profile; 

16 (ii) primarily serves as a medium for 

17 users to interact with content generated by 

18 other users of the medium; and 

19 (iii) enables one or more users to gen20 erate content that can be viewed by other 

21 users of the medium; and 

22 (B) does not include— 

23 (i) an email program, email distribu24 tion lists, multi-person text message 


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1 groups, or a website that is primarily for 

2 the purpose of internet commerce; 

3 (ii) a private platform or messaging 

4 service used by an entity solely to commu5 nicate with others employed by or affiliated 

6 with such entity; or 

7 (iii) an internet-based platform whose 

8 primary purpose is— 

9 (I) to allow users to post product 

10 reviews, business reviews, travel infor11 mation and reviews; or 

12 (II) to provide news or entertain13 ment content, but that may also in14 clude a comment section for users to 

15 discuss such news or entertainment 

16 content. 

17 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 

18 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

19 each commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 

20 United States, and each federally recognized Indian 

21 Tribe. 

Æ 


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