II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2240 

To promote digital citizenship and media literacy. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 23, 2019 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. BENNET, Ms. SMITH, and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

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 Unites States can fight these influences by 

12 ensuring that citizens of the United States possess 

13 the necessary skills to discern disinformation and 

14 misinformation and think critically about their dig15 ital 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 

25 products and services, education, health and 


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1 wellness, and democratic decisions associated with 

2 public policy. Media literacy education must be in3 clusive and accessible for all students, including stu4 dents with disabilities. Media literacy empowers 

5 young people and gives them the agency to make in6 formed decisions about their future, advertisements, 

7 the use of controlled substances, nutrition, and phys8 ical health. Equipping students with the skills to 

9 make informed decisions in these areas contributes 

10 to the betterment of mental health and public 

11 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) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘child with 

10 a disability’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘State edu11 cational agency’’, ‘‘specialized instructional support 

12 personnel’’, and ‘‘universal design for learning’’ have 

13 the meanings given those terms in section 8101 of 

14 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

15 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

16 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti17 ty’’ means— 

18 (A) a State educational agency; or 

19 (B) a local educational agency. 

20 (3) DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP.—The term ‘‘digital 

21 citizenship’’ means the ability to— 

22 (A) safely, responsibly, and ethically use 

23 communication technologies and digital infor24 mation technology tools and platforms; 


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1 (B) create and share media content using 

2 principles of social and civic responsibility and 

3 with awareness of the legal and ethical issues 

4 involved; and 

5 (C) participate in the political, economic, 

6 social, and cultural aspects of life related to 

7 technology, communications, and the digital 

8 world by consuming and creating digital con9 tent, including media. 

10 (4) MEDIA LITERACY.—The term ‘‘media lit11 eracy’’ means the ability to— 

12 (A) access relevant and accurate informa13 tion through media in a variety of forms; 

14 (B) critically analyze media content and 

15 the influences of different forms of media; 

16 (C) evaluate the comprehensiveness, rel17 evance, credibility, authority, and accuracy of 

18 information; 

19 (D) make educated decisions based on in20 formation obtained from media and digital 

21 sources; 

22 (E) operate various forms of technology 

23 and digital tools; and 

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

25 technology may affect private and public life. 


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

2 the Secretary of Education. 

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

4 program to promote media literacy, through which the 

5 Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities to enable 

6 those eligible entities to carry out the activities described 

7 in this subsection (d). 

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

9 grant under this section shall submit an application to the 

10 Secretary at such time and in such manner as the Sec11 retary may require, including, at a minimum— 

12 (1) a description of the activities the eligible en13 tity intends to carry out with the grant funds; 

14 (2) an estimate of the costs associated with 

15 such activities; and 

16 (3) such other information and assurances as 

17 the Secretary may require. 

18 (d) USE OF FUNDS.— 

19 (1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 

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

21 is a State educational agency receiving a grant 

22 under this Act shall use grant funds to carry 

23 out one or more of the following activities: 

24 (i) Creating and supporting a media 

25 literacy advisory council to— 


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1 (I) provide recommendations 

2 about digital citizenship and media lit3 eracy guidelines; 

4 (II) identify barriers and oppor5 tunities for implementing media lit6 eracy in kindergarten through grade 

7 12 in public schools in the State for 

8 all students, including students who 

9 are children with disabilities; 

10 (III) identify best practices and 

11 effective models for media literacy 

12 education, including incorporating 

13 universal design for learning and pro14 viding additional accommodations for 

15 students who are children with dis16 abilities when needed; 

17 (IV) identify existing models of 

18 curriculum and existing policies in dif19 ferent States that are aimed at over20 coming the barriers identified in sub21 clause (II); 

22 (V) gather data or conduct re23 search to assess the media literacy 

24 and digital citizenship competencies of 


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1 students, teachers, or specialized in2 structional support personnel; 

3 (VI) submit a report to the State 

4 educational agency containing findings 

5 and recommendations regarding the 

6 items identified under this clause; and 

7 (VII) annually update those find8 ings and recommendations. 

9 (ii) Assisting local educational agen10 cies in the development of units of instruc11 tion on media literacy, either as a new sub12 ject or as a part of the existing curriculum. 

13 (iii) Assisting local agencies in devel14 oping means of evaluating student learning 

15 in media literacy. 

16 (iv) Assisting local agencies in devel17 oping or providing professional develop18 ment for teachers that relates to media lit19 eracy. 

20 (B) MEDIA LITERACY ADVISORY COUN21 CIL.— 

22 (i) MEMBERS.—The media literacy 

23 advisory council described in subparagraph 

24 (A)(i) shall include experts in media lit25 eracy, including academic experts, individVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2240.IS S2240

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1 uals from nonprofit organizations, individ2 uals with expertise in education for stu3 dents who are children with disabilities, 

4 teachers, librarians, representatives from 

5 parent organizations, educators, adminis6 trators, students, and other stakeholders. 

7 (ii) DIVERSITY OF REPRESENTA8 TION.—Such membership shall include rep9 resentation from rural and urban local 

10 educational agencies, small and large 

11 schools, high- and low-resource schools, 

12 teachers of students with disabilities, and 

13 schools in communities from diverse racial 

14 and ethnic backgrounds. 

15 (C) GUIDELINES.— 

16 (i) IN GENERAL.—A State educational 

17 agency that creates a media literacy advi18 sory council under subparagraph (A)(i) 

19 shall, only after consideration of the find20 ings and recommendations described in 

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

22 and publish on the State educational agen23 cy website inclusive digital citizenship and 

24 media literacy guidelines for students in 


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1 kindergarten through grade 12 in public 

2 schools in the State. 

3 (ii) REQUIREMENTS.—The guidelines 

4 described in clause (i) shall be designed to 

5 develop media literacy and digital citizen6 ship competencies by promoting stu7 dents’— 

8 (I) research and information flu9 ency; 

10 (II) critical thinking and problem 

11 solving skills; 

12 (III) technology operations and 

13 concepts; 

14 (IV) information and techno15 logical literacy; 

16 (V) concepts of media representa17 tion and stereotyping; 

18 (VI) understanding of explicit 

19 and implicit media messages; 

20 (VII) understanding of values 

21 and points of view that are included 

22 and excluded in media content; 

23 (VIII) understanding of how 

24 media may influence ideas and behav25 iors; 


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1 (IX) understanding of the impor2 tance of obtaining information from 

3 multiple media sources and evaluating 

4 sources for quality; 

5 (X) understanding how informa6 tion on digital platforms can be al7 tered through algorithms, editing, and 

8 augmented reality; and 

9 (XI) ability to create media in 

10 civically and socially responsible ways. 

11 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—An eligi12 ble entity that is a local educational agency receiving 

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

14 out one or more of the following activities: 

15 (A) Incorporating digital citizenship and 

16 media literacy into the existing curriculum 

17 (across content and disciplinary areas) or estab18 lishing new educational opportunities to learn 

19 about media literacy. 

20 (B) Employing specialized instructional 

21 support personnel, such as a librarian or other 

22 personnel who can provide instructional services 

23 in media literacy. 

24 (C) Providing funding to educators who 

25 are carrying out activities described in subparaVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2240.IS S2240

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1 graph (A) to further their professional develop2 ment in relation to media literacy, including 

3 funding for traveling to media literacy con4 ferences to share knowledge with regional and 

5 national stakeholders. 

6 (D) Other activities, including student led 

7 efforts, to support, develop, or promote the im8 plementation of media literacy education pro9 grams, policies, teacher preparation, cur10 riculum, or standards. 

11 (e) REPORTING.— 

12 (1) REPORTS BY ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Not 

13 later than 1 year after the date the eligible entity re14 ceives grant funds under this Act, each eligible enti15 ty shall prepare and submit to the Secretary a re16 port describing the activities the eligible entity car17 ried out using grant funds and the effectiveness of 

18 those activities. 

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

20 than 90 days after the Secretary receives the report 

21 described in paragraph (1) from the last eligible en22 tity to submit such a report, the Secretary shall pre23 pare and submit a report to Congress describing the 

24 activities carried out under this Act and the effec25 tiveness of those activities. 


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1 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary should 

3 establish and maintain a list of eligible entities that receive 

4 a grant under this Act, and individuals designated by 

5 those eligible entities as participating individuals. The 

6 Secretary should make that list available to those eligible 

7 entities and participating individuals in order to promote 

8 communication and further exchange of information re9 garding sound digital citizenship and media literacy prac10 tices among recipients of a grant under this Act. 

11 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

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

14 and 2024. 

Æ 


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