I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 491 

To prevent United States businesses from cooperating with repressive governments in transforming the Internet into a tool of censorship and surveillance, to fulfill the responsibility of the United States Government to 

promote freedom of expression on the Internet, to restore public confidence in the integrity of United States businesses, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2013 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees 

on Ways and Means and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To prevent United States businesses from cooperating with 

repressive governments in transforming the Internet into 

a tool of censorship and surveillance, to fulfill the responsibility of the United States Government to promote freedom of expression on the Internet, to restore public 

confidence in the integrity of United States businesses, 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Global Online Freedom Act of 2013’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

Sec. 4. Severability. 

TITLE I—PROMOTION OF GLOBAL INTERNET FREEDOM 

Sec. 101. Statement of policy. 

Sec. 102. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 103. Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. 

Sec. 104. Annual designation of Internet-restricting countries; report. 

Sec. 105. Report on trade-related issues or disputes due to government censorship or disruption of the Internet. 

TITLE II—CORPORATE TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY TO 

PROTECT ONLINE FREEDOM 

Sec. 201. Disclosure of human rights due diligence. 

TITLE III—EXPORT CONTROLS ON CERTAIN 

TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT 

Sec. 301. Export controls on certain telecommunications equipment. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The political and economic benefits of the 

9 Internet are important to advancing democracy and 

10 freedom throughout the world, but the potential ben11 efits of this transformative technology are under at12 tack by authoritarian governments. 

13 (2) A number of repressive foreign governments 

14 block, restrict, otherwise control, and monitor the 


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1 Internet, effectively transforming the Internet into a 

2 tool of censorship and surveillance. 

3 (3) A number of United States businesses have 

4 enabled repressive regimes to compromise the secu5 rity of Internet users engaged in peaceful discussion 

6 of political, social, and religious issues and severely 

7 limit their access to information and communication 

8 channels by selling these governments or their 

9 agents technology or training. 

10 (4) A number of United States businesses have 

11 provided repressive governments with information 

12 about Internet users who were the company’s clients 

13 or were using the companies’ products, that has led 

14 to the arrest and imprisonment of the Internet 

15 users. 

16 (5) The actions of a number of United States 

17 businesses in cooperating with the efforts of repres18 sive governments to transform the Internet into a 

19 tool of censorship and surveillance have caused 

20 Internet users in the United States and in foreign 

21 countries to lose confidence in the integrity of 

22 United States businesses. 

23 (6) Information and communication technology 

24 companies are to be commended for cooperating with 

25 civil society organizations, academics, and investors 


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1 in founding the Global Network Initiative, in order 

2 to provide direction and guidance to the information 

3 and communication technology companies and others 

4 in protecting the free expression and privacy of 

5 Internet users. Human rights due diligence by com6 panies makes a difference. 

7 (7) The United States Government has a re8 sponsibility to protect freedom of expression on the 

9 Internet, to prevent United States businesses from 

10 directly and materially cooperating in human rights 

11 abuses perpetrated by repressive foreign govern12 ments, and to restore public confidence in the integ13 rity of United States business. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT17 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com18 mittees’’ means— 

19 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

20 the Committee on Financial Services of the 

21 House of Representatives; and 

22 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

23 and the Committee on Finance of the Senate. 

24 (2) FOREIGN OFFICIAL.—The term ‘‘foreign of25 ficial’’ means— 


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1 (A) any officer or employee of a foreign 

2 government or of any department; and 

3 (B) any person acting in an official capac4 ity for or on behalf of, or acting under color of 

5 law with the knowledge of, any such govern6 ment or such department, agency, state-owned 

7 enterprise, or instrumentality. 

8 (3) INTERNET.—The term ‘‘Internet’’ has the 

9 meaning given the term in section 231(e)(3) of the 

10 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 231(e)(3)). 

11 (4) INTERNET-RESTRICTING COUNTRY.—The 

12 term ‘‘Internet-restricting country’’ means a country 

13 designated by the Secretary of State pursuant to 

14 section 104(a) of this Act. 

15 (5) LEGITIMATE FOREIGN LAW ENFORCEMENT

16 PURPOSE.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘legitimate 

18 foreign law enforcement purpose’’ means for the 

19 purpose of enforcement, investigation, or pros20 ecution by a foreign official based on a publicly 

21 promulgated law of reasonable specificity that 

22 proximately relates to the protection or pro23 motion of the health, safety, or morals of the 

24 citizens of the jurisdiction of such official. 


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1 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For pur2 poses of this Act, the control, suppression, or 

3 punishment of peaceful expression of political, 

4 religious, or ideological opinion or belief shall 

5 not be construed to constitute a legitimate for6 eign law enforcement purpose. Among expres7 sion that should be construed to be protected 

8 against control, suppression, or punishment 

9 when evaluating a foreign government’s claim 

10 of a legitimate foreign law enforcement purpose 

11 is expression protected by article 19 of the 

12 International Covenant on Civil and Political 

13 Rights. 

14 (C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—No provi15 sion under this Act shall be construed to affect 

16 a country’s ability to adopt measures designed 

17 to combat infringement of intellectual property. 

18 (6) SUBSTANTIAL RESTRICTIONS ON INTERNET

19 FREEDOM.—The term ‘‘substantial restrictions on 

20 Internet freedom’’ means actions that restrict or 

21 punish the free availability of information via the 

22 Internet for reasons other than legitimate foreign 

23 law enforcement purposes, including— 

24 (A) deliberately blocking, filtering, or cen25 soring information available via the Internet 


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1 based on the expression of political, religious, or 

2 ideological opinion or belief, including by elec3 tronic mail; or 

4 (B) persecuting, prosecuting, or otherwise 

5 punishing an individual or group for posting or 

6 transmitting peaceful political, religious, or ide7 ological opinion or belief via the Internet, in8 cluding by electronic mail. 

9 (7) UNITED STATES BUSINESS.—The term 

10 ‘‘United States business’’ means— 

11 (A) any corporation, partnership, associa12 tion, joint-stock company, business trust, unin13 corporated organization, or sole proprietorship 

14 that— 

15 (i) has its principal place of business 

16 in the United States; or 

17 (ii) is organized under the laws of a 

18 State of the United States or a territory, 

19 possession, or commonwealth of the United 

20 States; and 

21 (B) any issuer of a security registered pur22 suant to section 12 of the Securities Exchange 

23 Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78l). 


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1 SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 

2 If any provision of this Act, or the application of such 

3 provision to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, 

4 the remainder of this Act, and the application of such pro5 vision to other persons not similarly situated or to other 

6 circumstances, shall not be affected by such invalidation. 

7 TITLE I—PROMOTION OF 

8 GLOBAL INTERNET FREEDOM 

9 SEC. 101. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

10 It shall be the policy of the United States— 

11 (1) to promote as a fundamental component of 

12 United States foreign policy the right of every indi13 vidual to freedom of opinion and expression, includ14 ing the right to hold opinions, and to seek, receive, 

15 and impart information and ideas through any 

16 media and regardless of frontiers, without inter17 ference; 

18 (2) to use all appropriate instruments of United 

19 States influence, including diplomacy, trade policy, 

20 and export controls, to support, promote, and 

21 strengthen principles, practices, and values that pro22 mote the free flow of information without inter23 ference or discrimination, including through the 

24 Internet and other electronic media; and 

25 (3) to deter any United States business from 

26 cooperating with officials of Internet-restricting 


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1 countries in effecting the political censorship of on2 line content. 

3 SEC. 102. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

4 It is the sense of the Congress that— 

5 (1) the President should, through bilateral, and 

6 where appropriate, multilateral activities, seek to ob7 tain the agreement of other countries to promote the 

8 goals and objectives of this Act and to protect Inter9 net freedom; and 

10 (2) to the extent possible in every country in 

11 which they operate, United States businesses should 

12 work to— 

13 (A) ensure access to the Web sites of the 

14 Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio 

15 Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Al-Hurra, Radio 

16 Sawa, Radio Farda, Radio Marti, TV Marti, or 

17 other United States-supported Web sites and 

18 online access to United States Government re19 ports such as the annual Country Reports on 

20 Human Rights Practices, the annual Reports 

21 on International Religious Freedom, and the 

22 annual Trafficking in Human Persons Reports; 

23 and 

24 (B) promote the security of Internet users 

25 and expand their access to information and 


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1 communication channels by limiting censorship 

2 of protected political and religious speech and 

3 information. 

4 SEC. 103. ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS 

5 PRACTICES. 

6 (a) REPORT RELATING TO ECONOMIC ASSIST7 ANCE.—Section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

8 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n) is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following new subsection: 

10 ‘‘(g)(1) The report required by subsection (d) shall 

11 include an assessment of freedom of expression with re12 spect to electronic information in each foreign country. 

13 Such assessment shall consist of the following: 

14 ‘‘(A) An assessment of the general extent to 

15 which Internet access is available to and used by 

16 citizens in that country. 

17 ‘‘(B) An assessment of the extent to which gov18 ernment authorities in that country attempt to filter, 

19 censor, or otherwise block or remove nonviolent ex20 pression of political or religious opinion or belief via 

21 the Internet, including electronic mail, as well as a 

22 description of the means by which such authorities 

23 attempt to block or remove protected speech. 

24 ‘‘(C) An assessment of the extent to which gov25 ernment authorities in that country have persecuted, 


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1 prosecuted, or otherwise punished an individual or 

2 group for the nonviolent expression of political, reli3 gious, or ideological opinion or belief via the Inter4 net, including electronic mail. 

5 ‘‘(D) An assessment of the extent to which gov6 ernment authorities in that country have sought to 

7 collect, request, obtain, or disclose the personally 

8 identifiable information of a person in connection 

9 with that person’s nonviolent expression of political, 

10 religious, or ideological opinion or belief, including 

11 without limitation communication that would be pro12 tected by the International Covenant on Civil and 

13 Political Rights. 

14 ‘‘(E) An assessment of the extent to which wire 

15 communications and electronic communications are 

16 illicitly monitored in that country. 

17 ‘‘(2) In compiling data and making assessments for 

18 the purposes of paragraph (1), United States diplomatic 

19 mission personnel shall consult with human rights organi20 zations, technology and Internet companies, and other ap21 propriate nongovernmental organizations. 

22 ‘‘(3) In this subsection— 

23 ‘‘(A) the term ‘electronic communication’ has 

24 the meaning given the term in section 2510 of title 

25 18, United States Code; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the term ‘Internet’ has the meaning given 

2 the term in section 231(e)(3) of the Communications 

3 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 231(e)(3)); 

4 ‘‘(C) the term ‘personally identifiable informa5 tion’ means data in a form that identifies a par6 ticular person; and 

7 ‘‘(D) the term ‘wire communication’ has the 

8 meaning given the term in section 2510 of title 18, 

9 United States Code.’’. 

10 (b) REPORT RELATING TO SECURITY ASSISTANCE.— 

11 Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 

12 15 U.S.C. 2304) is amended by adding at the end the fol13 lowing new subsection: 

14 ‘‘(j)(1) The report required by subsection (b) shall 

15 include an assessment of freedom of expression with re16 spect to electronic information in each foreign country. 

17 Such assessment shall consist of the following: 

18 ‘‘(A) An assessment of the general extent to 

19 which Internet access is available to and used by 

20 citizens in that country. 

21 ‘‘(B) An assessment of the extent to which gov22 ernment authorities in that country attempt to filter, 

23 censor, or otherwise block or remove nonviolent ex24 pression of political or religious opinion or belief via 

25 the Internet, including electronic mail, as well as a 


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1 description of the means by which such authorities 

2 attempt to block or remove protected speech. 

3 ‘‘(C) An assessment of the extent to which gov4 ernment authorities in that country have persecuted, 

5 prosecuted, or otherwise punished an individual or 

6 group for the peaceful expression of political, reli7 gious, or ideological opinion or belief via the Inter8 net, including electronic mail. 

9 ‘‘(D) An assessment of the extent to which gov10 ernment authorities in that country have sought to 

11 collect, request, obtain, or disclose the personally 

12 identifiable information of a person in connection 

13 with that person’s communication of ideas, facts, or 

14 views where such communication would be protected 

15 by the International Covenant on Civil and Political 

16 Rights. 

17 ‘‘(E) An assessment of the extent to which wire 

18 communications and electronic communications are 

19 illicitly monitored in that country. 

20 ‘‘(2) In compiling data and making assessments for 

21 the purposes of paragraph (1), United States diplomatic 

22 mission personnel shall consult with human rights organi23 zations, technology and Internet companies, and other ap24 propriate nongovernmental organizations. 

25 ‘‘(3) In this subsection— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the term ‘electronic communication’ has 

2 the meaning given the term in section 2510 of title 

3 18, United States Code; 

4 ‘‘(B) the term ‘Internet’ has the meaning given 

5 the term in section 231(e)(3) of the Communications 

6 Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 231(e)(3)); 

7 ‘‘(C) the term ‘personally identifiable informa8 tion’ means data in a form that identifies a par9 ticular person; and 

10 ‘‘(D) the term ‘wire communication’ has the 

11 meaning given the term in section 2510 of title 18, 

12 United States Code.’’. 

13 SEC. 104. ANNUAL DESIGNATION OF INTERNET-RESTRICT14 ING COUNTRIES; REPORT. 

15 (a) DESIGNATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

17 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an18 nually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall des19 ignate Internet-restricting countries for purposes of 

20 this Act. 

21 (2) STANDARD.—A foreign country shall be 

22 designated as an Internet-restricting country if the 

23 Secretary of State, after consultation with the Sec24 retary of Commerce, determines, based on the review 

25 of the evidence that the government of the country 


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1 is directly or indirectly responsible for a systematic 

2 pattern of substantial restrictions on Internet free3 dom during any part of the preceding 1-year period. 

4 (b) REPORT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an7 nually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall trans8 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a 

9 report that contains the following: 

10 (A) The name of each foreign country that 

11 at the time of the transmission of the report is 

12 designated as an Internet-restricting country 

13 under subsection (a). 

14 (B) An identification of each government 

15 agency and quasi-government organization re16 sponsible for the substantial restrictions on 

17 Internet freedom in each foreign country des18 ignated as an Internet-restricting country under 

19 subsection (a). 

20 (C) A description of efforts by the United 

21 States to counter the substantial restrictions on 

22 Internet freedom referred to in subparagraph 

23 (B), including a description and details of pro24 grams funded under any other provision of law 


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1 with the purpose of promoting Internet free2 dom. 

3 (D) A description of the evidence used by 

4 the Secretary of State to make the determina5 tions under subsection (a)(2). 

6 (2) FORM.—The information required by para7 graph (1)(C) may be provided in a classified form if 

8 necessary. 

9 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—All unclassified 

10 portions of the report shall be made publicly avail11 able on the Internet Web site of the Department of 

12 State. 

13 SEC. 105. REPORT ON TRADE-RELATED ISSUES OR DIS14 PUTES DUE TO GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP 

15 OR DISRUPTION OF THE INTERNET. 

16 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

17 of the enactment of this Act, the United States Trade 

18 Representative, in consultation with the Secretary of State 

19 and the Secretary of Commerce, shall transmit to the ap20 propriate congressional committees a report on— 

21 (1) any trade-related issues or disputes that 

22 arise due to government censorship or disruption of 

23 the Internet among United States trade partners; 

24 and 


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1 (2) efforts by the United States Government to 

2 address the issues or disputes described in para3 graph (1) either bilaterally or multilaterally. 

4 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con5 gress that the United States should pursue trade policies 

6 that expand the information economy by— 

7 (1) ensuring the free flow of information across 

8 the entire global network; 

9 (2) promoting stronger international trans10 parency rules; and 

11 (3) ensuring fair and equal treatment of online 

12 services regardless of country of origin. 

13 TITLE II—CORPORATE TRANS14 PARENCY AND ACCOUNT15 ABILITY TO PROTECT ONLINE 

16 FREEDOM 

17 SEC. 201. DISCLOSURE OF HUMAN RIGHTS DUE DILIGENCE. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 13 of the Securities Ex19 change Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m) is amended by add20 ing at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(s) DISCLOSURE OF HUMAN RIGHTS DUE DILI22 GENCE.— 

23 ‘‘(1) DISCLOSURE.—Except as provided in 

24 paragraph (3), each Internet communications service 

25 company that operates in an Internet-restricting 


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1 country shall include in the annual report of the 

2 company information relating to the company, any 

3 subsidiary of the company, and any entity under the 

4 control of either of such companies, relating to the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(A) HUMAN RIGHTS DUE DILIGENCE.— 

7 Company policies applicable to the company’s 

8 internal operations that address human rights 

9 due diligence through a statement of policy that 

10 is consistent with applicable provisions of the 

11 Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises issued 

12 by the Organization for Economic Co-operation 

13 and Development, and whether such policy— 

14 ‘‘(i) is approved at the most senior 

15 level of the company; 

16 ‘‘(ii) explicitly states the company’s 

17 expectations of personnel, business part18 ners, and other parties under the control 

19 of the company, products, or services; 

20 ‘‘(iii) is publicly available and commu21 nicated internally and externally to all per22 sonnel, business partners, other relevant 

23 partners, customers, and users; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) is reflected in operational poli2 cies and procedures necessary to embed it 

3 throughout the company; and 

4 ‘‘(v) is independently assessed by a 

5 third party to demonstrate compliance in 

6 practice, which should include— 

7 ‘‘(I) whether the assessment was 

8 conducted under the supervision of 

9 any third party organization or multi10 stakeholder initiative; 

11 ‘‘(II) a description of the assess12 ment process; 

13 ‘‘(III) a description of measures 

14 taken to ensure the assessor’s inde15 pendence; and 

16 ‘‘(IV) inclusion of the assessor’s 

17 public report. 

18 ‘‘(B) NON-COMPLIANCE.—If the company’s 

19 policy does not comply with any of the require20 ments of clauses (i) through (iv) of subpara21 graph (A), an explanation of why the company’s 

22 policy does not meet each such requirement. 

23 ‘‘(C) POLICIES PERTAINING TO DISCLO24 SURE OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMA25 TION.—If the company collects or obtains perVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:42 Feb 07, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H491.IH H491

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1 sonally identifiable information, the contents of 

2 wire communications or electronic communica3 tions in electronic storage, or the contents of 

4 wire communications or electronic communica5 tions in a remote computing service on the 

6 Internet, a summary of any internal policies or 

7 procedures of the company that set out how the 

8 company will assess and respond to requests by 

9 the governments of Internet-restricting coun10 tries for disclosure of such personally identifi11 able information or communications. 

12 ‘‘(D) RESTRICTIONS ON INTERNET SEARCH

13 ENGINES AND INTERNET CONTENT HOSTING

14 SERVICES.—If the company creates, provides, 

15 or hosts an Internet search engine or an Inter16 net content hosting service, all steps taken to 

17 provide users and customers with clear, promi18 nent, and timely notice when access to specific 

19 content has been removed or blocked at the re20 quest of an Internet-restricting country. 

21 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—The 

22 Commission shall make all information reported by 

23 an issuer pursuant to this subsection available online 

24 to the public. 

25 ‘‘(3) SAFE HARBOR.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An Internet commu2 nications service company that operates in an 

3 Internet-restricting country shall not be re4 quired to include in the annual report of the 

5 company information described in paragraph 

6 (1) if the company includes in the annual re7 port of the company a certification of the Glob8 al Network Initiative or a multi-stakeholder ini9 tiative described in subparagraph (B) that the 

10 company participates in good standing in the 

11 Global Network Initiative or the multi-stake12 holder initiative (as the case may be). 

13 ‘‘(B) MULTI-STAKEHOLDER INITIATIVE.— 

14 A multi-stakeholder initiative referred to in sub15 paragraph (A) is an initiative that— 

16 ‘‘(i) is composed of civil society orga17 nizations, including human rights organi18 zations and Internet communications serv19 ice companies; 

20 ‘‘(ii) promotes the rule of law and the 

21 adoption of laws, policies, and practices 

22 that protect, respect, and fulfill freedom of 

23 expression and privacy; and 

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1 ments by an independent third party de2 scribed in subparagraph (C) of the com3 pany’s compliance with the standards de4 scribed in clause (ii). 

5 ‘‘(C) INDEPENDENT THIRD PARTY.—An 

6 independent third party referred to in subpara7 graph (B)(iii) is an entity accredited by the 

8 multi-stakeholder initiative to conduct assess9 ments based on criteria that include— 

10 ‘‘(i) general expertise in legal and 

11 human rights standards; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) specific expertise in global busi13 ness processes relating to information and 

14 communication technology, including oper15 ations, product development cycles, market 

16 segments and industry relationships, infor17 mation technology privacy, safety, and se18 curity standards, data retention systems, 

19 and database forensics. 

20 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

21 ‘‘(A) ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION AND

22 OTHER TITLE 18 DEFINITIONS.—The terms 

23 ‘electronic communication’, ‘electronic commu24 nication service’, ‘electronic storage’, ‘wire com25 munication’, and ‘contents’ have the meanings 


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1 given such terms in section 2510 of title 18, 

2 United States Code. 

3 ‘‘(B) INTERNET.—The term ‘Internet’ has 

4 the meaning given the term in section 231(e)(3) 

5 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 

6 231(e)(3)). 

7 ‘‘(C) INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS SERV8 ICE COMPANY.—The term ‘Internet communica9 tions service company’ means an issuer that— 

10 ‘‘(i) is required to file an annual re11 port with the Commission; and 

12 ‘‘(ii)(I) provides electronic commu13 nication services or remote computing serv14 ices, but does not include— 

15 ‘‘(aa) businesses that provide 

16 such services as an ancillary service to 

17 the provision of lodging, transpor18 tation, or food services; or 

19 ‘‘(bb) activities conducted by a fi20 nancial institution (as such term is 

21 defined in section 5312 of title 31, 

22 United States Code) that are financial 

23 in nature, even if such activities are 

24 conducted using the Internet; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) is a domain name registrar, do2 main name registry, or other domain name 

3 registration authority. 

4 ‘‘(D) INTERNET CONTENT HOSTING SERV5 ICE.—The term ‘Internet content hosting serv6 ice’ means a service that— 

7 ‘‘(i) stores, through electromagnetic or 

8 other means, electronic data, such as the 

9 content of Web pages, electronic mail, doc10 uments, images, audio and video files, on11 line discussion boards, or Web logs; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) makes such data available via the 

13 Internet. 

14 ‘‘(E) INTERNET-RESTRICTING COUNTRY.— 

15 The term ‘Internet-restricting country’ has the 

16 meaning given such term under section 3 of the 

17 Global Online Freedom Act of 2013. 

18 ‘‘(F) INTERNET SEARCH ENGINE.—The 

19 term ‘Internet search engine’ means a service 

20 made available via the Internet that, on the 

21 basis of a query consisting of terms, concepts, 

22 questions, or other data input by a user, 

23 searches information available on the Internet 

24 and returns to the user a link to or other 

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1 formation or data available on the Internet re2 lating to such query. 

3 ‘‘(G) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFOR4 MATION.—The term ‘personally identifiable in5 formation’ means data in a form that identifies 

6 a particular person. 

7 ‘‘(H) REMOTE COMPUTING SERVICE.—The 

8 term ‘remote computing service’ has the mean9 ing given such term under section 2711(2) of 

10 title 18, United States Code.’’. 

11 (b) RULEMAKING.—Not later than the end of the 

12 270-day period beginning on the date of the enactment 

13 of this Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission shall 

14 issue final rules to carry out section 13(s) of the Securities 

15 and Exchange Act of 1934, as added by subsection (a). 

16 TITLE III—EXPORT CONTROLS 

17 ON CERTAIN TELECOMMUNI18 CATIONS EQUIPMENT 

19 SEC. 301. EXPORT CONTROLS ON CERTAIN TELECOMMUNI20 CATIONS EQUIPMENT. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6 of the Export Adminis22 tration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405), as continued 

23 in effect under the International Emergency Economic 

24 Powers Act, is amended by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(t) CERTAIN TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIP2 MENT.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta4 tion with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of 

5 Defense, and the heads of other appropriate Federal 

6 departments and agencies, shall establish and main7 tain, as part of the list maintained under this sec8 tion, a list of goods and technology that would serve 

9 the primary purpose of assisting, or be specifically 

10 configured to assist, a foreign government in acquir11 ing the capability to carry out censorship, surveil12 lance, or any other similar or related activity 

13 through means of telecommunications, including the 

14 Internet, the prohibition or licensing of which would 

15 be effective in barring acquisition or enhancement of 

16 such capability. 

17 ‘‘(2) INTERNET-RESTRICTING COUNTRIES.— 

18 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Sec19 retary shall prohibit the export of goods or tech20 nology on the list established under paragraph (1) to 

21 a government end user in any Internet-restricting 

22 country. 

23 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—The President may waive the 

24 application of paragraph (2) with respect to export 

25 of goods or technology on the list established under 


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1 paragraph (1) on a case-by-case basis if the Presi2 dent determines and certifies to Congress that it is 

3 in the national interests of the United States to do 

4 so. 

5 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

6 ‘‘(A) the term ‘Internet’ has the meaning 

7 given the term in section 231(e)(3) of the Com8 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 231(e)(3)); 

9 ‘‘(B) the term ‘Internet-restricting coun10 try’ means a country designated by the Sec11 retary of State pursuant to section 104(a) of 

12 the Global Online Freedom Act of 2013; 

13 ‘‘(C) a ‘government end user’ in a coun14 try— 

15 ‘‘(i) is an end user that is a govern16 ment of that country, or of a political sub17 division of that country, or is an agency or 

18 instrumentality of such a government; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) includes a telecommunications or 

20 Internet service provider that is wholly or 

21 partially owned by a government of that 

22 country; and 

23 ‘‘(D) an ‘agency or instrumentality’ of a 

24 government is an ‘agency or instrumentality of 


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1 a foreign state’, as defined in section 1603 of 

2 title 28, United States Code.’’. 

3 (b) REGULATIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 

6 shall revise the Export Administration Regulations 

7 and any other regulations necessary to carry out the 

8 amendment made by subsection (a). 

9 (2) EXPORT ADMINISTRATION REGULATIONS.— 

10 In this subsection, the term ‘‘Export Administration 

11 Regulations’’ means the Export Administration Reg12 ulations as maintained and amended under the au13 thority of the International Emergency Economic 

14 Powers Act and codified, as of the date of the enact15 ment of this Act, in subchapter C of chapter VII of 

16 title 15, Code of Federal Regulations. 

17 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 6(t) of the Export 

18 Administration Act of 1979, as added by subsection (a), 

19 shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act 

20 and shall apply with respect to the export of goods or tech21 nology on the list established under paragraph (1) of such 

22 section on or after 1 year after the date of the enactment 

23 of this Act. 

Æ 


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