II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3898 

To authorize the National Science Foundation to support research on the 

impact of online social media platforms on the maintenance or expansion 

of human trafficking, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2022 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To authorize the National Science Foundation to support 

research on the impact of online social media platforms 

on the maintenance or expansion of human trafficking, 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Human Trafficking 

5 Online Research Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NSF SUPPORT OF RESEARCH ON IMPACTS OF SO7 CIAL MEDIA ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) HUMAN TRAFFICKING.—The term ‘‘human 

2 trafficking’’ means an act or practice described in 

3 paragraph (11) or paragraph (12) of section 103 of 

4 the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 

5 U.S.C. 7102). 

6 (2) SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM.—The term ‘‘so7 cial media platform’’ means a website or internet 

8 medium that— 

9 (A) permits a person to become a reg10 istered user, establish an account, or create a 

11 profile for the purpose of allowing users to cre12 ate, share, and view user-generated content 

13 through such an account or profile; 

14 (B) enables 1 or more users to generate 

15 content that can be viewed by other users of the 

16 medium; and 

17 (C) primarily serves as a medium for users 

18 to interact with content generated by other 

19 users of the medium. 

20 (3) COMMERCIAL SEX ACT.—The term ‘‘com21 mercial sex act’’ means any sex act on account of 

22 which anything of value, including money, drugs, 

23 shelter, food, or clothing, is given to or received by 

24 any person. 


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1 (b) SUPPORT OF RESEARCH.—The Director of the 

2 National Science Foundation, in consultation with the 

3 heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall support 

4 merit-reviewed and competitively awarded research on the 

5 impact of online social media platforms on the mainte6 nance or expansion of human trafficking, which may in7 clude— 

8 (1) fundamental research on digital forensic 

9 tools or other technologies for verifying the authen10 ticity of social media platform users and their mate11 rials, that are utilized in the promotion or operation 

12 of human trafficking networks; 

13 (2) fundamental research on privacy preserving 

14 technical tools that may aid law enforcement’s abil15 ity to identify and prosecute individuals or entities 

16 promoting or involved in human trafficking; 

17 (3) social and behavioral research related to so18 cial media platform users who engage with those 

19 promoting or involved in human trafficking; 

20 (4) research on the effectiveness of expanding 

21 public understanding, awareness, or law enforcement 

22 efforts in combating human trafficking through so23 cial media platforms; and 

24 (5) research awards coordinated with other 

25 Federal agencies and programs, including the InforVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:06 Mar 23, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3898.IS S3898

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1 mation Integrity Research and Development Inter2 agency Working Group and the Privacy Research 

3 and Development Interagency Working Group of the 

4 Networking and Information Technology Research 

5 and Development Program, the Office for Victims of 

6 Crime of the Department of Justice, the Blue Cam7 paign of the Department of Homeland Security, the 

8 Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Per9 sons of the Department of State, and activities of 

10 the Department of Transportation and the Advisory 

11 Committee on Human Trafficking. 

12 (c) REPORTS.— 

13 (1) FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not 

14 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

15 Act, the Director of the National Science Founda16 tion shall report to the Committee on Commerce, 

17 Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Sub18 committee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Re19 lated Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations 

20 of the Senate, the Committee on Science, Space, and 

21 Technology of the House of Representatives, and the 

22 Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and 

23 Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropria24 tions of the House of Representatives— 


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1 (A) the Director’s findings with respect to 

2 the feasibility for research opportunities, includ3 ing with the private sector social media plat4 form companies, to improve the ability to com5 bat human trafficking operations; and 

6 (B) any recommendations of the Director 

7 that could facilitate and improve communica8 tion and coordination among the private sector, 

9 the National Science Foundation, and relevant 

10 Federal agencies to improve the ability to com11 bat human trafficking operations through social 

12 media. 

13 (2) RESULTS OF RESEARCH.—Not later than 4 

14 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

15 Director of the National Science Foundation shall 

16 report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

17 Transportation of the Senate, the Subcommittee on 

18 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies of 

19 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, the 

20 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

21 House of Representatives, and the Subcommittee on 

22 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies of 

23 the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 

24 Representatives on the results of the research sup25 ported under this section. 


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1 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec2 tion shall be construed to affect materials and actions as3 sociated with legal commercial sex acts. 

Æ 


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