II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3764 

To authorize United States Government efforts to promote and protect internet freedom in countries where the freedom of information is under 

threat. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 7, 2022 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To authorize United States Government efforts to promote 

and protect internet freedom in countries where the freedom of information is under threat. 

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 ‘‘Internet Freedom and 

5 Operations (INFO) Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) More than 3,000,000,000 people use the 

2 internet around the world every day to access infor3 mation. 

4 (2) Authoritarian and repressive governments 

5 routinely use internet access as a means of sup6 pressing information sharing and communications 

7 between people, civil society organizations, and jour8 nalists. 

9 SEC. 3. INTERNET FREEDOM. 

10 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

11 United States to continue to preserve and expand the 

12 internet as an open, global space for freedom of expression 

13 and association. 

14 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2023— 

16 (1) $75,000,000 to the Department of State 

17 and the United States Agency for International De18 velopment (referred to in this Act as ‘‘USAID’’) to 

19 continue efforts to promote internet freedom, includ20 ing through the Bureau of Democracy, Human 

21 Rights, and Labor’s Internet Freedom program; and 

22 (2) $49,000,000 to the United States Agency 

23 for Global Media (referred to in this Act as 

24 ‘‘USAGM’’) and grantees for internet freedom and 

25 circumvention technologies. 


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1 (c) OTHER FUNDING SOURCES.—In addition to the 

2 amounts appropriated pursuant to subsection (b), the ef3 forts of the Department of State and USAID to promote 

4 internet freedom may be funded through— 

5 (1) the Economic Support Fund authorized 

6 under section 531 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

7 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346); 

8 (2) the Development Assistance Fund author9 ized under section 653(a) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 

10 2413(a)); 

11 (3) amounts appropriated under the heading 

12 ‘‘Assistance for Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia’’ 

13 in an appropriations Act; and 

14 (4) amounts appropriated for USAGM. 

15 SEC. 4. CIRCUMVENTION TECHNOLOGY. 

16 (a) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term 

17 ‘‘internet censorship circumvention tool’’ means a software 

18 application or other tool that an individual can use to 

19 evade foreign government restrictions on internet access. 

20 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDING.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the government of a for22 eign country restricts or closes off internet access to 

23 the residents of such country, or access to certain 

24 websites, the Secretary of State shall make available 

25 $2,500,000 from the Economic Support Fund on an 


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1 expedited basis to vetted entities already engaged in 

2 internet freedom programs in such country if the 

3 Secretary determines that such use of funds is in the 

4 national interest. 

5 (2) CRITERIA.—Amounts may be made avail6 able under paragraph (1) within 7 days if— 

7 (A) the Secretary of State notifies the 

8 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, 

9 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, 

10 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 

11 of Representatives, and the Committee on Ap12 propriations of the House of Representatives of 

13 such planned expenditure; and 

14 (B) such amounts are expended to provide 

15 bandwidth for private United States companies 

16 that received Federal funding during fiscal year 

17 2021 to provide unrestricted internet access 

18 overseas. 

19 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

20 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State and 

21 the Administrator of USAID shall jointly submit a report, 

22 which may include a classified annex, to the Committee 

23 on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee 

24 on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives. Such 

25 report shall describe— 


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1 (1) as of the date of the report— 

2 (A) the full scope of Internet Freedom pro3 grams within the Department of State and 

4 USAID, including— 

5 (i) Department of State circumvention 

6 efforts; and 

7 (ii) USAID efforts to support internet 

8 infrastructure; 

9 (B) the capacity of internet censorship cir10 cumvention tools supported by the United 

11 States Government that are available for use by 

12 individuals in foreign countries seeking to coun13 teract censors; and 

14 (C) any barriers to the provision of the ef15 forts described in clauses (i) and (ii) of sub16 paragraph (A), including access to surge fund17 ing; and 

18 (2) any new resources needed to provide the 

19 United States Government with greater capacity to 

20 provide and boost internet access— 

21 (A) to respond rapidly to internet shut22 downs in closed societies; and 

23 (B) to provide internet connectivity to for24 eign locations where the provision of additional 


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1 internet access service would promote freedom 

2 from repressive regimes. 

3 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

4 of the enactment of this Act, the USAGM Chief Executive 

5 Officer shall submit a report to the Committee on Foreign 

6 Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign 

7 Affairs of the House of Representatives that describes— 

8 (1) as of the date of the report— 

9 (A) the full scope of Internet Freedom pro10 grams within USAGM, including— 

11 (i) the efforts of the Office of Internet 

12 Freedom; and 

13 (ii) the efforts of the Open Tech14 nology Fund; 

15 (B) the capacity of internet censorship cir16 cumvention tools supported by the Office of 

17 Internet Freedom and grantees of the Open 

18 Technology Fund that are available for use by 

19 individuals in foreign countries seeking to coun20 teract censors; and 

21 (C) any barriers to the provision of the ef22 forts described in clause (i) and (ii) of subpara23 graph (A), including access to surge funding; 

24 and 


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1 (2) successful examples from the Office of 

2 Internet Freedom and Open Technology Fund in3 volving— 

4 (A) responding rapidly to internet shut5 downs in closed societies; and 

6 (B) ensuring uninterrupted circumvention 

7 services for USAGM entities to promote inter8 net freedom within repressive regimes. 

Æ 


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