I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7915 

To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to design and establish a 

pilot program to facilitate voluntary information sharing between State, 

local, and regional fusion centers and certain technology companies related to threats of imminent violence, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2020 

Mr. MCCAUL (for himself and Mr. LANGEVIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 

to the Committee on Homeland Security, 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 direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to design 

and establish a pilot program to facilitate voluntary information sharing between State, local, and regional fusion centers and certain technology companies related 

to threats of imminent violence, 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 bill can be referred to as the ‘‘Protecting Amer5 ica through Information Sharing Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM TO RESPOND 

2 TO THREATS OF IMMINENT VIOLENCE. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM.—Not 

4 later than one year after enactment of this Act, the Sec5 retary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the pro6 gram manager of the information sharing environment de7 fined in section 1016(a)(3) of the Intelligence Reform and 

8 Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, the Attorney General, 

9 the Privacy Officer of the Department of Homeland Secu10 rity, the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of the 

11 Department of Homeland Security, the Office of the Gen12 eral Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security, 

13 and the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, and 

14 other relevant agency heads, shall establish a pilot pro15 gram to facilitate the voluntary sharing of information by 

16 social networking website companies regarding threats of 

17 imminent violence (hereinafter in this Act referred to as 

18 ‘‘threats’’) posted on such websites. 

19 (b) PRINCIPLES.—Prior to establishing the pilot pro20 gram, the Secretary shall consult with the entities de21 scribed in subsection (a), social networking website compa22 nies, and civil liberty and privacy groups within 90 days 

23 of enactments to establish a policy framework to guide the 

24 activities of the pilot program. The framework shall in25 clude the following: 


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1 (1) The sharing of information between social 

2 networking website companies and law enforcement 

3 shall be consistent with federally recognized informa4 tion-sharing practices and utilize the Nationwide 

5 Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative 

6 (NSI). 

7 (2) Nothing in this pilot program shall require 

8 social networking website companies to violate the 

9 website’s internal terms and conditions or to disclose 

10 any information to a participant in the pilot pro11 gram, beyond any existing legal requirements as of 

12 the date of enactment of this Act. 

13 (3) The pilot program shall establish a basis for 

14 what is determined to be a threat, and what the cri15 teria are for determining its credibility. 

16 (4) There is a policy framework established to 

17 protect the disclosure of threat information. 

18 (5) Any framework established for sharing 

19 threat information shall include the consultation of 

20 civil liberty and privacy groups on a biannual basis 

21 to discuss the development of a framework pro22 tecting civil liberties and privacy, and the enforce23 ment of policies guiding the pilot program in pro24 tecting civil liberties and privacy consistent with ex25 isting law. 


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1 (6) The pilot program is intended to focus on 

2 threats in the United States, while permitting the 

3 data collection and dissemination of all data whether 

4 international or domestic in origin. 

5 (7) The pilot program shall not infringe on civil 

6 liberties or privacy requirements consistent with ex7 isting law. 

8 (c) STRUCTURE.—In establishing this pilot program, 

9 the Secretary shall designate a Federal or SLTT law en10 forcement agency, or regional fusion center under section 

11 210A of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, to serve as 

12 a centralized clearinghouse between social networking 

13 website companies and appropriate law enforcement. 

14 (d) RESPONSIBILITY OF CLEARINGHOUSE.—This 

15 clearinghouse shall be responsible for— 

16 (1) receiving threats from social networking 

17 website companies and law enforcement regarding 

18 threats of imminent violence found on social media 

19 whether international or domestic; 

20 (2) analyzing such threats to turn such threats 

21 into actionable intelligence or distribute such threats 

22 to relevant Federal or SLTT law enforcement agen23 cies for further analysis whether international or do24 mestic; and 


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1 (3) disseminating such threats and actionable 

2 intelligence gathered from social networking website 

3 companies and law enforcement to appropriate Fed4 eral and SLTT law enforcement agencies. 

5 (e) CRITERIA FOR CLEARINGHOUSE.—Fusion centers 

6 shall apply for consideration as the centralized clearing7 house. In choosing the centralized clearinghouse, the Sec8 retary shall consider— 

9 (1) the entities’ capacity to work in partnership 

10 with social networking website companies and Fed11 eral, State and local law enforcement entities; 

12 (2) the entities’ capacity to disseminate threat 

13 information in a timely manner to the appropriate 

14 Federal or SLTT law enforcement agency; 

15 (3) similar existing programs that successfully 

16 leverage relationships with social networking website 

17 companies and Federal and SLTT law enforcement 

18 agencies to engage in information sharing related to 

19 threats of imminent violence; 

20 (4) the capacity of the clearinghouse to utilize 

21 existing information sharing networks; and 

22 (5) usage of existing, accredited information 

23 sharing networks such as the Homeland Security In24 formation Network. 


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1 (f) PARTICIPATION.—In establishing this pilot pro2 gram, the Secretary shall conduct outreach to fusion cen3 ters, other law enforcement agencies and social networking 

4 website companies to educate them on the pilot program, 

5 and invite appropriate entities to participate in this vol6 untary program. 

7 SEC. 3. OVERTIME PAY. 

8 Each member of the pilot program (other than those 

9 from participating social media networking website com10 panies) (and each individual from any SLTT law enforce11 ment agency working on the pilot program) shall remain 

12 as an employee of that member’s or individual’s respective 

13 agency for all purposes (including the purpose of perform14 ance review), and service with the pilot program shall be 

15 without interruption or loss of civil service privilege or sta16 tus and on a nonreimbursable basis, except if appropriate 

17 to reimburse SLTT law enforcement agencies for overtime 

18 costs for an individual appointed to work with the resource 

19 team. Additionally, reimbursement of travel and per diem 

20 expenses will occur for SLTT law enforcement officers for 

21 purposes of activities engaged in only by reason of partici22 pation in the pilot program. 

23 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—No cause of action shall lie in any 

25 court— 


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1 (1) against a social media website company or 

2 other private entity for information provided in good 

3 faith regarding threats of imminent violence in the 

4 course of participation in the pilot program estab5 lished in section 2(a); 

6 (2) against a social media website company or 

7 other private entity for information withheld in good 

8 faith regarding threats of imminent violence to the 

9 pilot program established in section 2(a); 

10 (3) against the clearinghouse established in sec11 tion 2(c) or members of law enforcement for acting 

12 on a threat received via the pilot program estab13 lished in section 2(a); and 

14 (4) against the clearinghouse established in sec15 tion 2(c) or members of law enforcement for not act16 ing on a threat received via the pilot program estab17 lished in section 2(a). 

18 (b) INTENTIONAL, RECKLESS, OR OTHER MIS19 CONDUCT.—Subsection(a) does not apply to a claim if the 

20 social networking website company, or a director, officer, 

21 employee, parent, contractor, or agent of that social net22 working website company— 

23 (1) engaged in intentional misconduct; or 

24 (2) acted, or failed to act— 

25 (A) with actual malice; 


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1 (B) with reckless disregard to a substantial 

2 risk of causing injury without legal justification; 

3 or 

4 (C) for a purpose unrelated to the per5 formance of any responsibility or function de6 scribed in paragraph (3). 

7 (c) EXCEPTION.—The limitation of liability as de8 scribed in subsection (a)(1) and (a)(2) only applies should 

9 social networking website companies choose to participate 

10 in the pilot program as described in section 2(a). 

11 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

12 (a) SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITE COMPANY PAR13 TICIPATION.—Nothing in this Act may be construed to re14 quire any social networking website, to participate in the 

15 pilot program or to disclose any information to a partici16 pant in the pilot program. No Federal or State liability, 

17 or any other actionable adverse consequence, may be im18 posed on such website company based on its decision not 

19 to do so. 

20 (b) ACTING ON A REPORTED THREAT.—Nothing in 

21 this Act shall be construed to require any Federal or 

22 SLTT law enforcement agency to open an investigation 

23 or act in accordance with a threat received from the clear24 inghouse established in section 2(c). Any government ac25 tion with respect to information received from the clearVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7915.IH H7915

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1 inghouse may only be taken consistent with existing au2 thorities and obligations. 

3 (c) CONSISTENT WITH EXISTING LAW.—Information 

4 voluntarily shared by social networking website companies 

5 through the pilot program established in this Act shall re6 main in accordance with section 2702(c) of title 18, 

7 United States Code. 

8 (d) PROTECTION OF CIVIL LIBERTIES.—The pilot 

9 program shall adhere to constitutional rights and existing 

10 laws on civil liberties and privacy. 

11 (e) SUBSCRIBER DATA.—Information shared through 

12 the pilot program shall not include subscriber data as de13 scribed in the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 

14 1986. 

15 SEC. 6. REPORT. 

16 No later than 2 years after enactment, the Secretary, 

17 in consultation with entities participating in the pilot pro18 gram, shall report to Congress on the pilot program estab19 lished in section 2 that assesses— 

20 (1) the capability of social networking website 

21 companies to identify public posts indicating threats 

22 of imminent violence, and their capacity to share 

23 such threats with the clearinghouse established as 

24 part of the pilot program; 


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1 (2) the total number of notifications shared be2 tween participating social networking website compa3 nies and the clearinghouse of the pilot program re4 garding threats of imminent violence; 

5 (3) the time it took participating social net6 working website companies to flag threats of immi7 nent violence posted on their platforms to the clear8 inghouse; 

9 (4) the time it took the clearinghouse to convert 

10 threats received from social networking website com11 panies into actionable intelligence; 

12 (5) the time it took the clearinghouse to dis13 seminate threats from social networking website 

14 companies to appropriate law enforcement entities; 

15 and 

16 (6) to the extent practicable, the number of 

17 times a threat passing through the clearinghouse led 

18 to an active law enforcement response. 

19 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITE COMPANY.— 

22 The term ‘‘social networking website company’’ 

23 means a company that maintains an internet 

24 website— 


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1 (A) that allows users, through the creation 

2 of web pages or profiles or by other means, to 

3 provide information about themselves or others 

4 that is available to the public or to other users; 

5 or 

6 (B) that offers a mechanism for commu7 nication with other users, including any con8 tractors or agents used by the website company 

9 to act on behalf of the website company in car10 rying out the purposes of this Act. 

11 (2) THREAT OF IMMINENT VIOLENCE.—The 

12 term ‘‘threat of imminent violence’’ means any inci13 dent in which there is a reasonable indication that 

14 an individual or group suggest an intent to immi15 nently inflict injury or death to oneself or others, or 

16 terrorism as defined by section 2(18) of the Home17 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101(18)) or an 

18 attack that otherwise lacks a clearly discernible po19 litical or ideological motivation. 

20 (3) SLTT LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The 

21 term ‘‘SLTT law enforcement agency’’ means a 

22 State, local, Tribal, or territorial law enforcement 

23 agency. 


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1 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated $3,000,000 

3 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2021 to the Sec4 retary of Homeland Security to carry out subsections (a), 

5 (e), and (f) of section 2 and to pay overtime; any amounts 

6 remaining at the conclusion of fiscal year 2021 shall be 

7 transferred to the centralized clearinghouse to maintain 

8 the pilot program. 

Æ 


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