II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2527 

To require officers and employees of the legislative and executive branches 

to make certain disclosures related to communications with information 

content providers and interactive computer services regarding restricting 

speech. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 28, 2021 

Mr. HAGERTY (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. MARSHALL, and 

Mr. ROUNDS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require officers and employees of the legislative and executive branches to make certain disclosures related to 

communications with information content providers and 

interactive computer services regarding restricting 

speech. 

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 ‘‘Disclose Government 

5 Censorship Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) INFORMATION CONTENT PROVIDER; INTER2 ACTIVE COMPUTER SERVICE.—The terms ‘‘informa3 tion content provider’’ and ‘‘interactive computer 

4 service’’ have the meanings given the terms in sec5 tion 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

6 U.S.C. 230). 

7 (2) LEGITIMATE LAW ENFORCEMENT PUR8 POSE.—The term ‘‘legitimate law enforcement pur9 pose’’ means for the purpose of investigating a 

10 criminal offense by a law enforcement agency that is 

11 within the lawful authority of that agency. 

12 (3) NATIONAL SECURITY PURPOSE.—The term 

13 ‘‘national security purpose’’ means a purpose that 

14 relates to— 

15 (A) intelligence activities; 

16 (B) cryptologic activities related to na17 tional security; 

18 (C) command and control of military 

19 forces; 

20 (D) equipment that is an integral part of 

21 a weapon or weapons system; or 

22 (E) the direct fulfillment of military or in23 telligence missions. 


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1 SEC. 3. DISCLOSURES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

3 (c), any officer or employee in the executive or legislative 

4 branch shall disclose and, in the case of a written commu5 nication, make available for public inspection, on a public 

6 website in accordance with subsection (d), any commu7 nication by that officer or employee with a provider or op8 erator of an interactive computer service regarding action 

9 or potential action by the provider or operator to restrict 

10 access to or the availability of, bar or limit access to, or 

11 decrease the dissemination or visibility to users of, mate12 rial posted by another information content provider, 

13 whether the action is or would be carried out manually 

14 or through use of an algorithm or other automated or 

15 semi-automated process. 

16 (b) TIMING.—The disclosure required under sub17 section (a) shall be made not later than 7 days after the 

18 date on which the communication is made. 

19 (c) LEGITIMATE LAW ENFORCEMENT AND NATIONAL

20 SECURITY PURPOSES.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any communication for a le22 gitimate law enforcement purpose or national secu23 rity purpose shall be disclosed and, in the case of a 

24 written communication, made available for inspec25 tion, to each House of Congress. 


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1 (2) TIMING.—The disclosure required under 

2 paragraph (1) shall be made not later than 60 days 

3 after the date on which the communication is made. 

4 (3) RECEIPT.—Upon receipt, each House shall 

5 provide copies to the chairman and ranking member 

6 of each standing committee with jurisdiction under 

7 the rules of the House of Representatives or the 

8 Senate regarding the subject matter to which the 

9 communication pertains. Such information shall be 

10 deemed the property of such committee and may not 

11 be disclosed except— 

12 (A) in accordance with the rules of the 

13 committee; 

14 (B) in accordance with the rules of the 

15 House of Representatives and the Senate; and 

16 (C) as permitted by law. 

17 (d) WEBSITE.— 

18 (1) LEGISLATIVE BRANCH.—The Sergeant at 

19 Arms of the Senate and the Sergeant at Arms of the 

20 House of Representatives shall designate a single lo21 cation on an internet website where the disclosures 

22 and communications of employees and officers in the 

23 legislative branch shall be published in accordance 

24 with subsection (a). 


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1 (2) EXECUTIVE BRANCH.—The Director of the 

2 Office of Management and Budget shall designate a 

3 single location on an internet website where the dis4 closures and communications of employees and offi5 cers in the executive branch shall be published in ac6 cordance with subsection (a). 

7 (e) NOTICE.—The Sergeant at Arms of the Senate, 

8 the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives, 

9 and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

10 shall take reasonable steps to ensure that each officer and 

11 employee of the legislative branch and executive branch, 

12 as applicable, are informed of the duties imposed by this 

13 section. 

14 (f) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—Any person who is a 

15 former officer or employee of the executive branch of the 

16 United States (including any independent agency) or any 

17 person who is a former officer or employee of the legisla18 tive branch or a former Member of Congress, who person19 ally and substantially participated in any communication 

20 under subsection (a) while serving as an officer, employee, 

21 or Member of Congress, shall not, within 2 years after 

22 any such communication under subsection (a) or 1 year 

23 after termination of his or her service as an officer, em24 ployee, or Member of Congress, whichever is later, know25 ingly make, with the intent to influence, any communicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Aug 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2527.IS S2527

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1 tion to or appearance before any officer or employee of 

2 any department, agency, court, or court-martial of the 

3 United States, on behalf of any person with which the 

4 former officer or employee personally and substantially 

5 participated in such communication under subsection (a). 

6 (g) PENALTIES.—Any person who violates sub7 sections (a), (b), (c), or (f) shall be punished as provided 

8 in section 216 of title 18, United States Code. 

Æ 


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