I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8746 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program to develop 

a training program that teaches members of the Armed Forces to interact 

with digital information in a safe and responsible manner, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 13, 2024 

Ms. STEVENS (for herself and Ms. SLOTKIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program to develop a training program that teaches members of the Armed Forces to interact with digital information in a safe and responsible manner, 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 ‘‘The Strategic Home5 land Information Education and Learning Defense Act of 

6 2024’’ or the ‘‘SHIELD Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM FOR DIGITAL INFORMATION 

2 TRAINING FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 

3 FORCES. 

4 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.—Not later than 120 days after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

6 Defense shall establish a pilot program (in this section re7 ferred to as the ‘‘pilot program’’) to develop a training 

8 program that teaches members of the Armed Forces to 

9 interact with digital information in a safe and responsible 

10 manner. 

11 (b) ELEMENTS.—In carrying out the pilot program, 

12 the Secretary shall— 

13 (1) develop and carry out a curriculum that in14 cludes instruction on— 

15 (A) how to identify— 

16 (i) fact-based journalism; 

17 (ii) opinion-based journalism; 

18 (iii) disinformation; 

19 (iv) conspiracy theories; and 

20 (v) hate-based ideologies, including 

21 antisemitism and white supremacy; 

22 (B) how to assess the credibility of digital 

23 news and other digital sources of information; 

24 (C) the effects of online actions on the 

25 actor and others, including the effects of postVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Aug 03, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8746.IH H8746

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1 ing or sharing personal, incorrect, or bias-based 

2 information; 

3 (D) the importance of protecting personal 

4 information and how to protect personal infor5 mation with respect to online activities; 

6 (E) how to recognize and avoid common 

7 information-based threats that could harm— 

8 (i) an individual targeted by such 

9 threats; 

10 (ii) the property of the individual; or 

11 (iii) the security, property, or goals of 

12 the Department of Defense when the indi13 vidual is a member of the Armed Forces; 

14 and 

15 (F) in the case that the individual is a 

16 member of the Armed Forces, methodologies— 

17 (i) that the individual can use when 

18 locating, evaluating, and using digital in19 formation; and 

20 (ii) which are designed reduce insider 

21 threats to, and vulnerabilities of, the 

22 Armed Forces with respect to conspiracy 

23 theories and hate-based ideology; 

24 (2) select as participants a geographically and 

25 demographically diverse sample of members of the 


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1 Armed Forces in such number as is necessary to col2 lect meaningful feedback about the training pro3 gram; and 

4 (3) use in-person, virtual, and hybrid training 

5 delivery methods in equal amounts. 

6 (c) TERMINATION.—The authority of Secretary to 

7 carry out the pilot program shall terminate on the date 

8 that is one year after the date on which the pilot program 

9 begins. 

10 (d) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the pilot pro11 gram, the Secretary may consult with organizations that 

12 specialize in teaching or providing information to individ13 uals about interacting with digital information in a safe 

14 and responsible manner. 

15 (e) SURVEY.—After the date on which the pilot pro16 gram terminates pursuant to subsection (c), the Secretary 

17 shall survey participants and instructors to identify— 

18 (1) ways to improve the training program and 

19 curriculum; 

20 (2) ways to improve participant engagement 

21 during the training program; and 

22 (3) the extent to which participants retained, 

23 over time, the information taught during the train24 ing program. 


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1 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the ter2 mination of the pilot program, the Secretary shall submit 

3 to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and 

4 the House of Representatives a report summarizing the 

5 results of the pilot program, including— 

6 (1) a comparison of the in-person, virtual, and 

7 hybrid training delivery methods, considering— 

8 (A) the engagement of participants during 

9 the training program; 

10 (B) the extent to which participants re11 tained, over time, the information taught dur12 ing the training program; and 

13 (C) other notable differences, as deter14 mined by the Secretary; 

15 (2) a determination, based on such comparison, 

16 about which training delivery method is most effec17 tive for teaching the curriculum developed under 

18 subsection (b)(1); 

19 (3) a recommendation about how often a mem20 ber of the Armed Forces should be required to at21 tend a permanent training program about inter22 acting with digital information in a safe and respon23 sible manner, if established, considering the extent 

24 to which participants of the pilot program retained 

25 information taught during the training program; and 


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1 (4) a recommendation about how often the cur2 riculum of any such permanent training program 

3 should be updated. 

Æ 


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