I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4668 

To promote digital citizenship and media literacy. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 11, 2019 

Ms. SLOTKIN (for herself, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. HOULAHAN, Ms. UNDERWOOD, 

Ms. SPANBERGER, Ms. SHERRILL, and Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To promote digital citizenship and media literacy. 

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 ‘‘Digital Citizenship and 

5 Media Literacy Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) People in the United States rely on infor9 mation from mass media, social media, and digital 

10 media to make decisions about all aspects of social, 

11 economic, and political life, including products and 


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1 services consumption, employment, career and pro2 fessional development, family and leisure choices, 

3 health and wellness, and democratic engagement. 

4 Ensuring that people in the United States possess 

5 the skills to make these informed decisions based on 

6 media begins early in life. 

7 (2) Adversaries from Russia, China, and Iran 

8 are using information warfare to influence democ9 racies across the world, and terrorist organizations 

10 often use digital communications to recruit mem11 bers. The United States can fight these influences 

12 by ensuring that citizens of the United States pos13 sess the necessary skills to discern disinformation 

14 and misinformation and think critically about their 

15 digital activities. 

16 (3) Influence campaigns by foreign and domes17 tic groups reached tens of millions of voters during 

18 the 2016 and 2018 elections with racially and divi19 sively targeted messages. The preservation of elec20 tions free of foreign influence is of utmost impor21 tance, and therefore Congress must take steps to 

22 counter influence campaigns with media literacy. 

23 (4) Media literacy education is critical to allow 

24 young people to make informed decisions about 

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1 ness, and democratic decisions associated with public 

2 policy. Media literacy education must be inclusive 

3 and accessible for all students, including at-risk stu4 dents and students with disabilities. Media literacy 

5 empowers young people and gives them the agency 

6 to make informed decisions about their future, ad7 vertisements, the use of controlled substances, nutri8 tion, and physical health. Equipping students with 

9 the skills to make informed decisions in these areas 

10 contributes to the betterment of mental health and 

11 public health. 

12 (5) A successful and inclusive media literacy 

13 program must be directed at students beginning in 

14 kindergarten and should continue throughout the 

15 completion of postsecondary education. Learning to 

16 critically analyze and create media is a lifelong proc17 ess that can be developed by integrating media lit18 eracy competencies into academic curriculum across 

19 content areas and disciplines. 

20 (6) Media literacy also allows young people to 

21 develop the critical thinking skills that will help 

22 them become informed voters. The right to vote is 

23 a fundamental right afforded to United States citi24 zens by the Constitution. The unimpeded free exer25 cise of this right is essential to the functioning of 


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1 our democracy. The process to protect our democ2 racy begins with educating young people in the 

3 United States to ensure that the young people pos4 sess the skills to engage in civic activities, engage 

5 with communities, and eventually become informed 

6 voters. 

7 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM ESTABLISHED. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) AT-RISK.—The term ‘‘at-risk’’ has the 

10 meaning given the term in section 1432 of the Ele11 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

12 U.S.C. 6472). 

13 (2) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘child 

14 with a disability’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘State 

15 educational agency’’, ‘‘specialized instructional sup16 port personnel’’, and ‘‘universal design for learning’’ 

17 have the meanings given those terms in section 8101 

18 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

19 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

20 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti21 ty’’ means— 

22 (A) a State educational agency; or 

23 (B) a local educational agency. 

24 (4) DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP.—The term ‘‘digital 

25 citizenship’’ means the ability to— 


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1 (A) safely, responsibly, and ethically use 

2 communication technologies and digital infor3 mation technology tools and platforms; 

4 (B) create and share media content using 

5 principles of social and civic responsibility and 

6 with awareness of the legal and ethical issues 

7 involved; and 

8 (C) participate in the political, economic, 

9 social, and cultural aspects of life related to 

10 technology, communications, and the digital 

11 world by consuming and creating digital con12 tent, including media. 

13 (5) MEDIA LITERACY.—The term ‘‘media lit14 eracy’’ means the ability to— 

15 (A) access relevant and accurate informa16 tion through media in a variety of forms; 

17 (B) critically analyze media content and 

18 the influences of different forms of media; 

19 (C) evaluate the comprehensiveness, rel20 evance, credibility, authority, and accuracy of 

21 information; 

22 (D) make educated decisions based on in23 formation obtained from media and digital 

24 sources; 


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1 (E) operate various forms of technology 

2 and digital tools; and 

3 (F) reflect on how the use of media and 

4 technology may affect private and public life. 

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

6 the Secretary of Education. 

7 (b) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

8 program to promote media literacy, through which the 

9 Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities to enable 

10 those eligible entities to carry out the activities described 

11 in this subsection (d). 

12 (c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity that desires a 

13 grant under this section shall submit an application to the 

14 Secretary at such time and in such manner as the Sec15 retary may require, including, at a minimum— 

16 (1) a description of the activities the eligible en17 tity intends to carry out with the grant funds; 

18 (2) an estimate of the costs associated with 

19 such activities; and 

20 (3) such other information and assurances as 

21 the Secretary may require. 

22 (d) USE OF FUNDS.— 

23 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that 

25 is a State educational agency receiving a grant 


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1 under this Act shall use grant funds to carry 

2 out one or more of the following activities: 

3 (i) Creating and supporting a media 

4 literacy advisory council to— 

5 (I) provide recommendations 

6 about digital citizenship and media lit7 eracy guidelines; 

8 (II) identify barriers and oppor9 tunities for implementing media lit10 eracy in kindergarten through grade 

11 12 in public schools in the State for 

12 all students, including students who 

13 are children with disabilities; 

14 (III) identify best practices and 

15 effective models for media literacy ed16 ucation, including incorporating uni17 versal design for learning and pro18 viding additional accommodations for 

19 students who are children with dis20 abilities when needed; 

21 (IV) identify existing models of 

22 curriculum and existing policies in dif23 ferent States that are aimed at over24 coming the barriers identified in sub25 clause (II); 


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1 (V) gather data or conduct re2 search to assess the media literacy 

3 and digital citizenship competencies of 

4 students, teachers, or specialized in5 structional support personnel; 

6 (VI) submit a report to the State 

7 educational agency containing findings 

8 and recommendations regarding the 

9 items identified under this clause; and 

10 (VII) annually update those find11 ings and recommendations. 

12 (ii) Assisting local educational agen13 cies in the development of units of instruc14 tion on media literacy, either as a new sub15 ject or as a part of the existing curriculum. 

16 (iii) Assisting local agencies in devel17 oping means of evaluating student learning 

18 in media literacy. 

19 (iv) Assisting local agencies in devel20 oping or providing professional develop21 ment for teachers that relates to media lit22 eracy. 

23 (B) MEDIA LITERACY ADVISORY COUN24 CIL.— 


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1 (i) MEMBERS.—The Media Literacy 

2 Advisory Council described in subpara3 graph (A)(i) shall include experts in media 

4 literacy, including academic experts, indi5 viduals from nonprofit organizations, indi6 viduals with expertise in education for stu7 dents who are children with disabilities, 

8 teachers, librarians, representatives from 

9 parent organizations, educators, adminis10 trators, students, and other stakeholders. 

11 (ii) DIVERSITY OF REPRESENTA12 TION.—Such membership shall include rep13 resentation from rural and urban local 

14 educational agencies, small and large 

15 schools, high- and low-resource schools, 

16 teachers of at-risk students and children 

17 with disabilities, and schools in commu18 nities from diverse racial and ethnic back19 grounds. 

20 (C) GUIDELINES.— 

21 (i) IN GENERAL.—A State educational 

22 agency that creates a media literacy advi23 sory council under subparagraph (A)(i) 

24 shall, only after consideration of the find25 ings and recommendations described in 


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1 subparagraph (A)(i)(I) and (VI), develop 

2 and publish on the State educational agen3 cy website inclusive digital citizenship and 

4 media literacy guidelines for students in 

5 kindergarten through grade 12 in public 

6 schools in the State. 

7 (ii) REQUIREMENTS.—The guidelines 

8 described in clause (i) shall be designed to 

9 develop media literacy and digital citizen10 ship competencies by promoting stu11 dents’— 

12 (I) research and information flu13 ency; 

14 (II) critical thinking and problem 

15 solving skills; 

16 (III) technology operations and 

17 concepts; 

18 (IV) information and techno19 logical literacy; 

20 (V) concepts of media representa21 tion and stereotyping; 

22 (VI) understanding of explicit 

23 and implicit media messages; 


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1 (VII) understanding of values 

2 and points of view that are included 

3 and excluded in media content; 

4 (VIII) understanding of how 

5 media may influence ideas and behav6 iors; 

7 (IX) understanding of the impor8 tance of obtaining information from 

9 multiple media sources and evaluating 

10 sources for quality; 

11 (X) understanding how informa12 tion on digital platforms can be al13 tered through algorithms, editing, and 

14 augmented reality; and 

15 (XI) ability to create media in 

16 civically and socially responsible ways. 

17 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—An eligi18 ble entity that is a local educational agency receiving 

19 a grant under this Act shall use grant funds to carry 

20 out one or more of the following activities: 

21 (A) Incorporating digital citizenship and 

22 media literacy into the existing curriculum 

23 (across content and disciplinary areas) or estab24 lishing new educational opportunities to learn 

25 about media literacy. 


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1 (B) Employing specialized instructional 

2 support personnel, such as a librarian or other 

3 personnel who can provide instructional services 

4 in media literacy. 

5 (C) Providing funding to educators who 

6 are carrying out activities described in subpara7 graph (A) to further their professional develop8 ment in relation to media literacy, including 

9 funding for traveling to media literacy con10 ferences to share knowledge with regional and 

11 national stakeholders. 

12 (D) Other activities, including student led 

13 efforts, to support, develop, or promote the im14 plementation of media literacy education pro15 grams, policies, teacher preparation, cur16 riculum, or standards. 

17 (e) REPORTING.— 

18 (1) REPORTS BY ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Not 

19 later than 1 year after the date the eligible entity re20 ceives grant funds under this Act, each eligible enti21 ty shall prepare and submit to the Secretary a re22 port describing the activities the eligible entity car23 ried out using grant funds and the effectiveness of 

24 those activities. 


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1 (2) REPORT BY THE SECRETARY.—Not later 

2 than 90 days after the Secretary receives the report 

3 described in paragraph (1) from the last eligible en4 tity to submit such a report, the Secretary shall pre5 pare and submit a report to Congress describing the 

6 activities carried out under this Act and the effec7 tiveness of those activities. 

8 SEC. 4. FEDERAL ADVISORY COUNCIL. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

10 Federal Advisory Council to assist the Secretary in evalu11 ating and awarding grants under this section 3 and devel12 oping and making available to States and local educational 

13 agencies evidence-based model curricula and standards for 

14 media literacy education. 

15 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Advisory Council shall— 

16 (1) include representation from rural and urban 

17 local educational agencies, small and large schools, 

18 high- and low-resource schools, teachers of children 

19 with disabilities, and schools in communities from 

20 diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds; and 

21 (2) be composed of experts in media literacy 

22 and digital citizenship, including academic experts, 

23 individuals from nonprofit organizations, individuals 

24 with expertise in education for at-risk students, and 

25 students who are children with disabilities, teachers, 


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1 librarians, representatives from parent associations, 

2 educators, administrators, students, and other stake3 holders. 

4 SEC. 5. GAO STUDY. 

5 Not later than 180 days after the enactment of this 

6 Act, the Government Accountability Office shall submit a 

7 report to Congress on— 

8 (1) media literacy and digital citizenship com9 petencies among elementary school and secondary 

10 school students in diverse local educational agencies, 

11 including rural and urban schools, small and large 

12 schools, high- and low-resource schools, and schools 

13 in communities from diverse racial and ethnic back14 grounds; 

15 (2) media literacy and digital citizenship edu16 cation programs at the State and local levels, includ17 ing across content and disciplinary areas; and 

18 (3) the impact of media literacy and digital citi19 zenship education on student outcomes, including 

20 academic performance, health and well-being, and 

21 civic engagement. 

22 SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

23 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary should 

24 establish and maintain a list of eligible entities that receive 

25 a grant under this Act, and individuals designated by 


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1 those eligible entities as participating individuals. The 

2 Secretary should make that list available to those eligible 

3 entities and participating individuals in order to promote 

4 communication and further exchange of information re5 garding sound digital citizenship and media literacy prac6 tices among recipients of a grant under this Act. 

7 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

9 this Act $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020, 2022, 

10 and 2024. 

Æ 


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