I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4527 

To direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and 

Information to prepare and submit periodic reports to Congress on the 

role of telecommunications in hate crimes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 1, 2017 

Mr. SERRANO (for himself, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. DELBENE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, 

Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. 

LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. KILMER, and Mr. SABLAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to prepare and submit periodic 

reports to Congress on the role of telecommunications 

in hate crimes. 

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 ‘‘Stop Harmful and 

5 Abusive Telecommunications Expression Act of 2017’’ or 

6 the ‘‘Stop HATE Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REPORTS ON THE ROLE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS 

2 IN HATE CRIMES. 

3 (a) PERIODIC REPORTS REQUIRED.—Not later than 

4 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

5 not less frequently than every 5 years thereafter, the As6 sistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and 

7 Information, with the assistance of the Attorney General, 

8 shall prepare and submit to the appropriate congressional 

9 committees a report on the role of telecommunications in 

10 violent acts and the commission of crimes of hate, as de11 scribed in the Hate Crime Statistics Act (34 U.S.C. 

12 41305), against individuals or groups of individuals on the 

13 basis of race, gender and gender identity, religion, dis14 ability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, color, or national ori15 gin. 

16 (b) SCOPE OF REPORTS.—A report required by sub17 section (a) shall— 

18 (1) analyze information on the use of tele19 communications, including broadcast television and 

20 radio, cable television, public access television, com21 puter bulletin boards, and other electronic media, to 

22 advocate and encourage violent acts and the commis23 sion of crimes of hate, as described in the Hate 

24 Crime Statistics Act (34 U.S.C. 41305), against in25 dividuals or groups of individuals on the basis of 

26 race, gender and gender identity, religion, disability, 


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1 sexual orientation, ethnicity, color, or national ori2 gin; 

3 (2) include in the analysis required by para4 graph (1) an analysis of— 

5 (A) the role that such telecommunications 

6 are playing in giving groups that advocate and 

7 encourage such violent acts and the commission 

8 of such crimes of hate a platform to spread 

9 their messages and to organize across the 

10 United States; and 

11 (B) how such use and role of telecommuni12 cations have changed due to the evolution of 

13 new forms of communication on the internet 

14 and other electronic media since the submission 

15 of the previous report under subsection (a) (or, 

16 in the case of the first report submitted under 

17 such subsection, the report submitted under 

18 section 155 of the National Telecommunications 

19 and Information Administration Organization 

20 Act); and 

21 (3) include any recommendations, consistent 

22 with the First Amendment to the Constitution, that 

23 the Assistant Secretary considers appropriate and 

24 necessary to address such use and such role of tele25 communications. 


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1 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE2 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres3 sional committees’’ means— 

4 (1) the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

5 and the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

6 of Representatives; and 

7 (2) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

8 Transportation and the Committee on Appropria9 tions of the Senate. 

Æ 


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