II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3114 

To develop and deploy firewall circumvention tools for the people of Hong 

Kong after the People’s Republic of China violated its agreement under 

the Joint Declaration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 24, 2023 

Mr. LANKFORD (for himself and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To develop and deploy firewall circumvention tools for the 

people of Hong Kong after the People’s Republic of 

China violated its agreement under the Joint Declaration, 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 ‘‘Safeguarding Internet 

5 Freedom in Hong Kong Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The People’s Republic of China has repeat2 edly violated its obligations under the Joint Declara3 tion by suppressing the basic rights and freedoms of 

4 Hong Kongers. 

5 (2) On June 30, 2020, the National People’s 

6 Congress passed a law on Safeguarding National Se7 curity in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Re8 gion (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘National Secu9 rity Law’’), which further erodes Hong Kong’s au10 tonomy and enables authorities to suppress dissent. 

11 (3) The Government of the People’s Republic of 

12 China continues to utilize the National Security Law 

13 to undermine the fundamental rights of Hong 

14 Kongers by suppressing freedoms of speech, assem15 bly, religion, and the press. 

16 (4) Article 9 of the National Security Law au17 thorizes unprecedented regulation and supervision of 

18 internet activity in Hong Kong, including expanded 

19 police powers to force internet service providers to 

20 censor content, hand over user information, and 

21 block access to platforms. 

22 (5) On January 13, 2021, the Hong Kong 

23 Broadband Network blocked public access to 

24 HKChronicles, which is a website promoting pro-deVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:15 Oct 26, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3114.IS S3114

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1 mocracy viewpoints, under the authorities of the Na2 tional Security Law. 

3 (6) On January 28, 2021, the Hong Kong 

4 Internet Registration Corporation Limited enacted a 

5 revised ‘‘acceptable use’’ policy that enables authori6 ties to require the rejection of website registration 

7 requests that may ‘‘incite ‘illegal acts’ ’’. 

8 (7) On February 4, 2021, Carrie Lam ex9 pressed support for implementing additional laws to 

10 increase internet censorship. 

11 (8) On February 12, 2021, internet service pro12 viders blocked access to the Taiwan Transitional 

13 Justice Commission website in Hong Kong. 

14 (9) Major tech companies including Facebook, 

15 Twitter, WhatsApp, and Google have stopped review16 ing requests for user data from Hong Kong authori17 ties. 

18 (10) On February 28, 2021, 47 pro-democracy 

19 activists in Hong Kong were arrested charged under 

20 the National Security Law on the charge of ‘‘con21 spiracy to commit subversion’’. 

22 (11) On December 12, 2022, Chris Tang and 

23 John Lee advocated for Google to remove search re24 sults for a pro-democracy song. 


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1 (12) On February 14, 2023, John Lee re2 affirmed his commitment to pass Article 23 of the 

3 Basic Law by 2024, which would require Hong 

4 Kong to enact national security legislation for seven 

5 types of offenses, further eroding individual free6 doms and giving unrestricted power to authorities. 

7 (13) In March 2023, Hong Kong authorities ar8 rested a student returning from Japan for violating 

9 the National Security Law by sharing pro-democracy 

10 statements online while studying abroad. 

11 (14) On May 16, 2023, John Lee encouraged 

12 public libraries to remove books with messages that 

13 do not serve the interests of Hong Kong. 

14 (15) On June 6, 2023, the Hong Kong Govern15 ment attempted to ban all forms of broadcasting and 

16 distribution of a pro-democracy song. 

17 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

18 It is the sense of Congress that the United States 

19 should— 

20 (1) support the ability of the people of Hong 

21 Kong to maintain their freedom to access informa22 tion online; and 

23 (2) focus on investments in technologies that 

24 facilitate the unhindered exchange of information in 


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1 Hong Kong in advance of any future efforts by the 

2 Chinese Communist Party— 

3 (A) to suppress internet access; 

4 (B) to increase online censorship; or 

5 (C) to inhibit online communication and 

6 content-sharing by the people of Hong Kong. 

7 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT10 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com11 mittees’’ means— 

12 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

13 the Senate; 

14 (B) the Committee on Appropriations of 

15 the Senate; 

16 (C) the Select Committee on Intelligence of 

17 the Senate; 

18 (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

19 the House of Representatives; 

20 (E) the Committee on Appropriations of 

21 the House of Representatives; and 

22 (F) the Permanent Select Committee on 

23 Intelligence of the House of Representatives. 


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1 (2) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.—The term 

2 ‘‘interagency working group’’ means a group com3 posed of— 

4 (A) the Under Secretary of State for Civil5 ian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights; 

6 (B) the Assistant Secretary of State for 

7 East Asian and Pacific Affairs; 

8 (C) the Chief Executive Officer of the 

9 Open Technology Fund; and 

10 (D) the Administrator of the United States 

11 Agency for International Development. 

12 (3) JOINT DECLARATION.—The term ‘‘Joint 

13 Declaration’’ means the Joint Declaration of the 

14 Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain 

15 and Northern Ireland and the Government of the 

16 People’s Republic of China on the Question of Hong 

17 Kong, done at Beijing on December 19, 1984. 

18 SEC. 5. HONG KONG INTERNET FREEDOM PROGRAM. 

19 (a) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.—The Secretary 

20 of State is authorized to establish an interagency working 

21 group, composed of the individuals occupying the positions 

22 listed in section 4(2), to develop a strategy to bolster inter23 net resiliency and online access in Hong Kong. 

24 (b) HONG KONG INTERNET FREEDOM PROGRAM.— 


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1 (1) DEPARTMENT OF STATE.—The Secretary of 

2 State shall establish a Hong Kong Internet Freedom 

3 Program in the Bureau of Democracy, Human 

4 Rights, and Labor of the Department of State. 

5 (2) OPEN TECHNOLOGY FUND.—The Chief Ex6 ecutive Officer of the Open Technology Fund is au7 thorized to establish a Hong Kong Internet Freedom 

8 Program. 

9 (3) COORDINATION.—The programs established 

10 pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) shall operate 

11 independently, but shall strategically coordinate with 

12 other entities represented in the interagency working 

13 group. 

14 (c) INDEPENDENCE.—During the period beginning 

15 on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on 

16 September 30, 2028, the programs established pursuant 

17 to subsection (b) shall be carried out independent from 

18 the mainland China internet freedom portfolios in order 

19 to focus on supporting liberties presently enjoyed by the 

20 people of Hong Kong. 

21 (d) CONSOLIDATION OF DEPARTMENT OF STATE

22 PROGRAM.—Beginning on October 1, 2028, the Secretary 

23 of State may— 

24 (1) consolidate the program established pursu25 ant to subsection (b)(1) with the mainland China 


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1 initiatives in the Bureau of Democracy, Human 

2 Rights, and Labor; or 

3 (2) continue to carry out such program in ac4 cordance with subsection (c). 

5 (e) CONSOLIDATION OF OPEN TECHNOLOGY FUND

6 PROGRAM.—Beginning on October 1, 2028, the Chief Ex7 ecutive Officer of the Open Technology Fund may— 

8 (1) consolidate the Program with the mainland 

9 China initiatives in the Open Technology Fund; or 

10 (2) continue to carry out the Program in ac11 cordance with subsection (c). 

12 SEC. 6. SUPPORT FOR INFORMATION PROGRAMS. 

13 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, 

15 working through the Open Technology Fund and the 

16 Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, is 

17 authorized to award grants to private organizations 

18 to support and develop programs in Hong Kong that 

19 promote or expand— 

20 (A) online information access; 

21 (B) freedom of the press; 

22 (C) disruptive technologies that bypass 

23 internet blocking, filtering, and other censorship 

24 techniques; 

25 (D) virtual private networks; 


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1 (E) firewall circumvention tools; 

2 (F) distributed denial of service mitigation 

3 techniques; 

4 (G) digital security capacity building for 

5 internet users; or 

6 (H) digital resiliency for international or7 ganizations, pro-democracy activists, and other 

8 civil society actors in Hong Kong, including 

9 emergency support. 

10 (2) GOALS.—The programs receiving grants 

11 pursuant to paragraph (1) should strive— 

12 (A) to make the technologies described in 

13 paragraph (1) available in Hong Kong; 

14 (B) to increase the number of the tools in 

15 the circumvention technology portfolio; 

16 (C) to promote the availability of such 

17 technologies and tools in Hong Kong; 

18 (D) to encourage the adoption of such 

19 technologies and tools by the people of Hong 

20 Kong; 

21 (E) to scale up the distribution of such 

22 technologies and tools throughout Hong Kong; 

23 (F) to prioritize the development of tools, 

24 components, code, and technologies that are 

25 fully open-source, to the extent practicable; 


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1 (G) to conduct research on repressive tac2 tics that undermine internet freedom in Hong 

3 Kong; and 

4 (H) to engage American private industry, 

5 including e-commerce firms and social net6 working companies, on the importance of pre7 serving internet access in Hong Kong. 

8 (3) GRANT RECIPIENTS.—Grants awarded pur9 suant to paragraph (1) shall be distributed to mul10 tiple vendors and suppliers through an open, fair, 

11 competitive, and evidence-based decision process— 

12 (A) to diversify the technical base; and 

13 (B) to reduce the risk of mitigation by bad 

14 actors. 

15 (4) SECURITY AUDITS.—New technologies de16 veloped using grants from this subsection shall un17 dergo comprehensive security audits to ensure that 

18 such technologies are secure and have not been com19 promised in a manner detrimental to the interests of 

20 the United States or to individuals or organizations 

21 benefitting from programs supported by the Open 

22 Technology Fund. 

23 (b) FUNDING SOURCE.—The Secretary of State is 

24 authorized to expend funds from the Human Rights and 

25 Democracy Fund of the Bureau of Democracy, Human 


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1 Rights, and Labor of the Department of State during fis2 cal year 2024 for grants awarded pursuant to subsection 

3 (a) by any entity represented in the interagency working 

4 group. 

5 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

6 (1) OPEN TECHNOLOGY FUND.—In addition to 

7 the amounts authorized to be expended pursuant to 

8 subsection (b), there are authorized to be appro9 priated to the Open Technology Fund $5,000,000 

10 for each of the fiscal years 2024 through 2028 to 

11 carry out this section. 

12 (2) BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, 

13 AND LABOR.—In addition to the amounts authorized 

14 to be expended pursuant to subsection (b), there are 

15 authorized to be appropriated to the Office of Inter16 net Freedom Programs of the Bureau of Democracy, 

17 Human Rights, and Labor of the Department of 

18 State $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2024 

19 through 2028 to carry out this section. 

20 (3) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pur21 suant to paragraphs (1) and (2) shall remain avail22 able until expended. 

23 SEC. 7. STRATEGIC PLANNING REPORT. 

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1 agency working group shall submit a classified report to 

2 the appropriate congressional committees that— 

3 (1) describes the Federal Government’s plan to 

4 bolster and increase the availability of firewall cir5 cumvention technology in Hong Kong during fiscal 

6 year 2024; 

7 (2) outlines a plan for— 

8 (A) supporting the preservation of an 

9 open, interoperable, reliable, and secure internet 

10 in Hong Kong; 

11 (B) increasing the supply of the technology 

12 referred to in paragraph (1); 

13 (C) accelerating the dissemination of such 

14 technology; 

15 (D) promoting the availability of such 

16 technology in Hong Kong; 

17 (E) utilizing presently available tools in the 

18 mainland China portfolio for further use in the 

19 unique context of Hong Kong; 

20 (F) expanding the portfolio of tools in 

21 order to diversify and strengthen the effective22 ness and resiliency of the circumvention efforts; 

23 and 

24 (G) providing training for high-risk groups 

25 and individuals in Hong Kong; 


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1 (3) includes a detailed description of the tech2 nical and fiscal steps necessary to implement the 

3 plans referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2), includ4 ing an analysis of the market conditions in Hong 

5 Kong; 

6 (4) describes the Federal Government’s plans 

7 for awarding grants to private organizations for the 

8 purposes described in section 6(a)(1); 

9 (5) outlines the interagency working group’s 

10 consultations regarding the implementation of this 

11 Act to ensure that all Federal efforts are aligned 

12 and well coordinated; and 

13 (6) outlines the Department of State’s strategy 

14 to influence global internet legal standards at inter15 national organizations and multilateral fora. 

Æ 


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