II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2559 

To establish the National Deepfake and Digital Provenance Task Force, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2021 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish the National Deepfake and Digital Provenance 

Task Force, 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 ‘‘Deepfake Task Force 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL DEEPFAKE AND DIGITAL PROVENANCE 

7 TASK FORCE. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) DIGITAL CONTENT FORGERY.—The term 

10 ‘‘digital content forgery’’ means the use of emerging 


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1 technologies, including artificial intelligence and ma2 chine learning techniques, to fabricate or manipulate 

3 audio, visual, or text content with the intent to mis4 lead. 

5 (2) DIGITAL CONTENT PROVENANCE.—The 

6 term ‘‘digital content provenance’’ means the 

7 verifiable chronology of the origin and history of a 

8 piece of digital content, such as an image, video, 

9 audio recording, or electronic document. 

10 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti11 ty’’ means— 

12 (A) a private sector or nonprofit organiza13 tion; or 

14 (B) an institution of higher education. 

15 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

16 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

17 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

18 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

19 (5) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT20 TEES.—The term ‘‘relevant congressional commit21 tees’’ means— 

22 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

23 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 


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1 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

2 and the Committee on Oversight and Reform of 

3 the House of Representatives. 

4 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

6 (7) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘‘Task Force’’ 

7 means the National Deepfake and Provenance Task 

8 Force established under subsection (b)(1). 

9 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE.— 

10 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in co11 ordination with the Director of the Office of Science 

12 and Technology Policy, shall establish a task force, 

13 to be known as ‘‘the National Deepfake Provenance 

14 Task Force’’, to— 

15 (A) investigate the feasibility of, and obsta16 cles to, developing and deploying standards and 

17 technologies for determining digital content 

18 provenance; 

19 (B) propose policy changes to reduce the 

20 proliferation and impact of digital content for21 geries, such as the adoption of digital content 

22 provenance and technology standards; and 

23 (C) serve as a formal mechanism for inter24 agency coordination and information sharing to 

25 facilitate the creation and implementation of a 


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1 national strategy to address the growing threats 

2 posed by digital content forgeries. 

3 (2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

4 (A) CO-CHAIRPERSONS.—The following 

5 shall serve as co-chairpersons of the Task 

6 Force: 

7 (i) The Secretary or a designee of the 

8 Secretary. 

9 (ii) The Director of the Office of 

10 Science and Technology Policy or a des11 ignee of the Director. 

12 (B) COMPOSITION.—The Task Force shall 

13 be composed of 12 members, of whom— 

14 (i) 4 shall be representatives from the 

15 Federal Government, including the co16 chairpersons of the Task Force; 

17 (ii) 4 shall be representatives from in18 stitutions of higher education; and 

19 (iii) 4 shall be representatives from 

20 private or nonprofit organizations. 

21 (C) APPOINTMENT.—Not later than 120 

22 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

23 the co-chairpersons of the Task Force shall ap24 point members to the Task Force in accordance 


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1 with subparagraph (A) from among technical 

2 experts in— 

3 (i) artificial intelligence; 

4 (ii) media manipulation; 

5 (iii) digital forensics; 

6 (iv) secure digital content and deliv7 ery; 

8 (v) cryptography; or 

9 (vi) related subjects. 

10 (D) TERM OF APPOINTMENT.—The term 

11 of a member of the Task Force shall end on the 

12 date described in subsection (g)(1). 

13 (E) VACANCY.—Any vacancy occurring in 

14 the membership of the Task Force shall be 

15 filled in the same manner in which the original 

16 appointment was made. 

17 (F) EXPENSES FOR NON-FEDERAL MEM18 BERS.—Members of the Task Force described 

19 in clauses (ii) and (iii) of subparagraph (B) 

20 shall be allowed travel expenses, including per 

21 diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized 

22 for employees under subchapter I of chapter 57 

23 of title 5, United States Code, while away from 

24 their homes or regular places of business in the 

25 performance of services for the Task Force. 


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1 (c) COORDINATED PLAN.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall de3 velop a coordinated plan to— 

4 (A) reduce the proliferation and impact of 

5 digital content forgeries, including by exploring 

6 how the adoption of a digital content prove7 nance standard could assist with reducing the 

8 proliferation of digital content forgeries; 

9 (B) develop mechanisms for content cre10 ators to— 

11 (i) cryptographically certify the au12 thenticity of original media and non-decep13 tive manipulations; and 

14 (ii) enable the public to validate the 

15 authenticity of original media and non-de16 ceptive manipulations to establish digital 

17 content provenance; and 

18 (C) increase the ability of internet compa19 nies, journalists, watchdog organizations, other 

20 relevant entities, and members of the public 

21 to— 

22 (i) meaningfully scrutinize and iden23 tify potential digital content forgeries; and 


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1 (ii) relay trust and information about 

2 digital content provenance to content con3 sumers. 

4 (2) CONTENTS.—The plan required under para5 graph (1) shall include the following: 

6 (A) A Government-wide research and de7 velopment agenda to— 

8 (i) improve technologies and systems 

9 to detect digital content forgeries; and 

10 (ii) relay information about digital 

11 content provenance to content consumers. 

12 (B) An assessment of the feasibility of, 

13 and obstacles to, the deployment of technologies 

14 and systems to capture, preserve, and display 

15 digital content provenance. 

16 (C) An assessment of the feasibility of, and 

17 challenges in, distinguishing between— 

18 (i) benign or helpful alterations to 

19 digital content; and 

20 (ii) intentionally deceptive or obfus21 cating alterations to digital content. 

22 (D) A discussion of best practices, includ23 ing any necessary standards, for the adoption 

24 and effective use of technologies and systems to 


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1 determine digital content provenance and detect 

2 digital content forgeries. 

3 (E) Conceptual proposals for necessary re4 search projects and experiments to further de5 velop successful technology to ascertain digital 

6 content provenance. 

7 (F) Proposed policy changes, including 

8 changes in law, to— 

9 (i) incentivize the adoption of tech10 nologies, systems, open standards, or other 

11 means to detect digital content forgeries 

12 and determine digital content provenance; 

13 and 

14 (ii) reduce the incidence, proliferation, 

15 and impact of digital content forgeries. 

16 (G) Recommendations for models for pub17 lic-private partnerships to fight disinformation 

18 and reduce digital content forgeries, including 

19 partnerships that support and collaborate on— 

20 (i) industry practices and standards 

21 for determining digital content provenance; 

22 (ii) digital literacy education cam23 paigns and user-friendly detection tools for 

24 the public to reduce the proliferation and 


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1 impact of disinformation and digital con2 tent forgeries; 

3 (iii) industry practices and standards 

4 for documenting relevant research and 

5 progress in machine learning; and 

6 (iv) the means and methods for identi7 fying and addressing the technical and fi8 nancial infrastructure that supports the 

9 proliferation of digital content forgeries, 

10 such as inauthentic social media accounts 

11 and bank accounts. 

12 (H) An assessment of privacy and civil lib13 erties requirements associated with efforts to 

14 deploy technologies and systems to determine 

15 digital content provenance or reduce the pro16 liferation of digital content forgeries, including 

17 statutory or other proposed policy changes. 

18 (I) A determination of metrics to define 

19 the success of— 

20 (i) technologies or systems to detect 

21 digital content forgeries; 

22 (ii) technologies or systems to deter23 mine digital content provenance; and 


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1 (iii) other efforts to reduce the inci2 dence, proliferation, and impact of digital 

3 content forgeries. 

4 (d) CONSULTATIONS.—In carrying out subsection (c), 

5 the Task Force shall consult with the following: 

6 (1) The Director of the National Science Foun7 dation. 

8 (2) The National Academies of Sciences, Engi9 neering, and Medicine. 

10 (3) The Director of the National Institute of 

11 Standards and Technology. 

12 (4) The Director of the Defense Advanced Re13 search Projects Agency. 

14 (5) The Director of the Intelligence Advanced 

15 Research Projects Activity of the Office of the Direc16 tor of National Intelligence. 

17 (6) The Secretary of Energy. 

18 (7) The Secretary of Defense. 

19 (8) The Attorney General. 

20 (9) The Secretary of State. 

21 (10) The Federal Trade Commission. 

22 (11) The United States Trade Representative. 

23 (12) Representatives from private industry and 

24 nonprofit organizations. 


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1 (13) Representatives from institutions of higher 

2 education. 

3 (14) Such other individuals as the Task Force 

4 considers appropriate. 

5 (e) STAFF.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Staff of the Task Force 

7 shall be comprised of detailees with expertise in arti8 ficial intelligence or related fields from— 

9 (A) the Department of Homeland Security; 

10 (B) the Office of Science and Technology 

11 Policy; 

12 (C) the National Institute of Standards 

13 and Technology; or 

14 (D) any other Federal agency the co-chair15 persons of the Task Force consider appropriate 

16 with the consent of the head of the Federal 

17 agency. 

18 (2) OTHER ASSISTANCE.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The co-chairpersons of 

20 the Task Force may enter into an agreement 

21 with an eligible entity for the temporary assign22 ment of employees of the eligible entity to the 

23 Task Force in accordance with this paragraph. 


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1 (B) APPLICATION OF ETHICS RULES.—An 

2 employee of an eligible entity assigned to the 

3 Task Force under subparagraph (A)— 

4 (i) shall be considered a special Gov5 ernment employee for the purpose of Fed6 eral law, including— 

7 (I) chapter 11 of title 18, United 

8 States Code; and 

9 (II) the Ethics in Government 

10 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.); and 

11 (ii) notwithstanding section 202(a) of 

12 title 18, United States Code, may be as13 signed to the Task Force for a period of 

14 not more than 2 years. 

15 (C) FINANCIAL LIABILITY.—An agreement 

16 entered into with an eligible entity under sub17 paragraph (A) shall require the eligible entity to 

18 be responsible for any costs associated with the 

19 assignment of an employee to the Task Force. 

20 (D) TERMINATION.—The co-chairpersons 

21 of the Task Force may terminate the assign22 ment of an employee to the Task Force under 

23 subparagraph (A) at any time and for any rea24 son. 

25 (f) TASK FORCE REPORTS.— 


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1 (1) INTERIM REPORT.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

3 after the date on which all of the appointments 

4 have been made under subsection (b)(2)(C), the 

5 Task Force shall submit to the President and 

6 the relevant congressional committees an in7 terim report containing the findings, conclu8 sions, and recommendations of the Task Force. 

9 (B) CONTENTS.—The report required 

10 under subparagraph (A) shall include specific 

11 recommendations for ways to reduce the pro12 liferation and impact of digital content for13 geries, including the deployment of technologies 

14 and systems to determine digital content prove15 nance. 

16 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

17 after the date of the submission of the interim re18 port under paragraph (1)(A), the Task Force shall 

19 submit to the President and the relevant congres20 sional committees a final report containing the find21 ings, conclusions, and recommendations of the Task 

22 Force, including the plan developed under subsection 

23 (c). 

24 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—With respect to each re25 port submitted under this subsection— 


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1 (A) the Task Force shall make the report 

2 publicly available; and 

3 (B) the report— 

4 (i) shall be produced in an unclassi5 fied form; and 

6 (ii) may include a classified annex. 

7 (g) TERMINATION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall termi9 nate on the date that is 90 days after the date on 

10 which the Task Force submits the final report under 

11 subsection (f)(2). 

12 (2) RECORDS.—Upon the termination of the 

13 Task Force under paragraph (1), each record of the 

14 Task Force shall become a record of the National 

15 Archives and Records Administration. 

Æ 


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