I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2393 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to implement a strategy 

to combat the efforts of transnational criminal organizations to recruit 

individuals in the United States via social media platforms and other 

online services and assess their use of such platforms and services for 

illicit activities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 29, 2023 

Ms. SPANBERGER (for herself, Mr. CISCOMANI, and Mr. BURGESS) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, 

and in addition to the Committees on Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs, and Energy and Commerce, 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 require the Secretary of Homeland Security to implement 

a strategy to combat the efforts of transnational criminal 

organizations to recruit individuals in the United States 

via social media platforms and other online services and 

assess their use of such platforms and services for illicit 

activities, 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. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Combating Cartels on 

3 Social Media Act of 2023’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT7 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com8 mittees’’ means— 

9 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

10 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 

11 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

12 of the House of Representatives. 

13 (2) COVERED OPERATOR.—The term ‘‘covered 

14 operator’’ means the operator, developer, or pub15 lisher of a covered service. 

16 (3) COVERED SERVICE.—The term ‘‘covered 

17 service’’ means— 

18 (A) a social media platform; 

19 (B) a mobile or desktop service with direct 

20 or group messaging capabilities, but not includ21 ing text messaging services without other sub22 stantial social functionalities or electronic mail 

23 services, that the Secretary determines is, has 

24 been, or will be used by transnational criminal 

25 organizations in connection with matters de26 scribed in section 3; and 


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1 (C) a digital platform, or an electronic ap2 plication utilizing the digital platform, involving 

3 real-time interactive communication between 

4 multiple individuals, including multi-player 

5 gaming services and immersive technology plat6 forms or applications, that the Secretary deter7 mines is, has been, or will be used by 

8 transnational criminal organizations in connec9 tion with matters described in section 3. 

10 (4) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

11 means the Department of Homeland Security. 

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

13 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

14 SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT OF ILLICIT USAGE. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub17 mit to the appropriate congressional committees an assess18 ment describing the following: 

19 (1) The use of covered services by transnational 

20 criminal organizations or criminal enterprises acting 

21 on their behalf to engage in recruitment efforts, in22 cluding the recruitment of individuals, including in23 dividuals under the age of 18, located in the United 

24 States to engage in or provide support with respect 

25 to illicit activities occurring in the United States, 


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1 Mexico, or otherwise in proximity to an international 

2 boundary of the United States. 

3 (2) The use of covered services by transnational 

4 criminal organizations to engage in other illicit ac5 tivities or other conduct in support of illicit activi6 ties, including— 

7 (A) smuggling or trafficking involving nar8 cotics, other controlled substances, precursors 

9 thereof, or other items prohibited under the 

10 laws of the United States, Mexico, or another 

11 relevant jurisdiction, including firearms; and 

12 (B) human smuggling or trafficking. 

13 (3) The existing efforts of the Secretary and 

14 relevant government and law enforcement entities to 

15 counter, monitor, or otherwise respond to the usage 

16 of covered services described in paragraphs (1) and 

17 (2). 

18 (4) The existing efforts of covered operators to 

19 counter, monitor, or otherwise respond to the usage 

20 of covered services described in paragraphs (1) and 

21 (2). 

22 (5) The existing cooperative efforts between the 

23 Secretary, other relevant government entities, and 

24 covered operators with respect to the matters de25 scribed in paragraphs (1) and (2). 


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1 SEC. 4. STRATEGY TO COMBAT CARTEL RECRUITMENT ON 

2 SOCIAL MEDIA AND ONLINE PLATFORMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub5 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a strat6 egy, to be known as the National Strategy to Combat Il7 licit Recruitment Activity by Transnational Criminal Or8 ganizations on Social Media and Online Platforms, to 

9 combat the use of covered services by transnational crimi10 nal organizations or criminal enterprises acting on their 

11 behalf to recruit individuals located in the United States 

12 to engage in or provide support with respect to illicit ac13 tivities occurring in the United States, Mexico, or other14 wise in proximity to an international boundary of the 

15 United States. 

16 (b) ELEMENTS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The strategy required under 

18 subsection (a) shall, at a minimum, include the fol19 lowing: 

20 (A) A proposal to improve cooperation and 

21 thereafter maintain cooperation between the 

22 Secretary, relevant law enforcement entities, 

23 and appropriate covered operators with respect 

24 to the matters described in subsection (a). 

25 (B) Recommendations to implement the re26 quirement under section 5(a)(2) to establish a 


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1 centralized mechanism for reporting informa2 tion regarding the United States recruitment 

3 efforts of transnational criminal organizations 

4 involving covered services. 

5 (C) A proposal to improve 

6 intragovernmental coordination with respect to 

7 the matters described in subsection (a), includ8 ing between the Department and State, local, 

9 and Tribal governments. 

10 (D) A proposal to improve coordination 

11 within the Department and between the compo12 nents of the Department with respect to the 

13 matters described in subsection (a). 

14 (E) Activities to facilitate increased intel15 ligence analysis for law enforcement purposes of 

16 efforts of transnational criminal organizations 

17 to utilize covered services for recruitment pur18 poses. 

19 (F) Activities to foster international part20 nerships and enhance collaboration with foreign 

21 governments and, as applicable, multilateral in22 stitutions with respect to the matters described 

23 in subsection (a). 

24 (G) Activities to facilitate proactive law en25 forcement and other governmental efforts relatVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2393.IH H2393

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1 ing to the efforts of transnational criminal or2 ganizations to utilize covered services for re3 cruitment purposes, including activities in4 tended to preempt through outreach and en5 gagement the commission of criminal offenses 

6 by individuals located in the United States who 

7 are targeted for recruitment by those 

8 transnational criminal organizations. 

9 (H) Activities to specifically increase en10 gagement and outreach with youth in border 

11 communities, including regarding the recruit12 ment tactics of transnational criminal organiza13 tions and the consequences of participation in 

14 illicit activities. 

15 (2) LIMITATION.—The strategy required under 

16 subsection (a) shall not include legislative rec17 ommendations or elements predicated on the passage 

18 of legislation that is not enacted as of the date on 

19 which the strategy is submitted, including with re20 spect to encryption policies or reforms to section 230 

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

22 230). 

23 (c) CONSULTATION.—In drafting and implementing 

24 the strategy required under subsection (a), the Secretary 


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1 shall, at a minimum, consult and engage with the fol2 lowing: 

3 (1) The heads of relevant components of the 

4 Department, including the following: 

5 (A) The Commissioner of U.S. Customs 

6 and Border Protection. 

7 (B) The Under Secretary for Intelligence 

8 and Analysis. 

9 (C) The Under Secretary for Science and 

10 Technology. 

11 (D) The Director of U.S. Immigration and 

12 Customs Enforcement. 

13 (E) The Officer for Civil Rights and Civil 

14 Liberties. 

15 (F) The Privacy Officer. 

16 (2) The Secretary of State. 

17 (3) The Director of the Federal Bureau of In18 vestigation. 

19 (4) The Administrator of the Drug Enforce20 ment Agency. 

21 (5) Representatives of border communities, in22 cluding representatives of the following: 

23 (A) State, local, and Tribal governments, 

24 including school districts and local law enforce25 ment. 


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1 (B) Nongovernmental organizations. 

2 (6) Covered operators, including representatives 

3 of the following: 

4 (A) Social media platforms, including oper5 ators of platforms or applications— 

6 (i) displaying short-form videos cre7 ated by users or third parties; 

8 (ii) providing ephemeral content 

9 transmission services; or 

10 (iii) using algorithms or other means 

11 of content prioritization to display a feed 

12 of content or advertisements created by 

13 users or third parties to other users. 

14 (B) Interactive entertainment platforms 

15 and publishers. 

16 (C) Companies developing immersive tech17 nology platforms and applications on those plat18 forms. 

19 (7) Nongovernmental experts in the fields of 

20 the following: 

21 (A) Civil rights and civil liberties. 

22 (B) Online privacy. 

23 (C) Humanitarian assistance for migrants. 

24 (D) Youth outreach and rehabilitation. 

25 (d) IMPLEMENTATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

2 the date on which the strategy required under sub3 section (a) is submitted to the appropriate congres4 sional committees, the Secretary shall commence im5 plementation of the strategy. 

6 (2) REPORT.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

8 days after the date on which the strategy re9 quired under subsection (a) is implemented 

10 under paragraph (1) and semiannually there11 after for five years, the Secretary shall submit 

12 to the appropriate congressional committees a 

13 report describing the efforts of the Secretary to 

14 implement the strategy and the progress of 

15 those efforts, which shall include a description 

16 of the following: 

17 (i) The recommendations, and cor18 responding implementation of those rec19 ommendations, with respect to the matters 

20 described in subsection (b)(1)(B) relating 

21 to the mechanism required under section 

22 5(a)(2). 

23 (ii) The interagency posture with re24 spect to the matters covered by the strat25 egy required under subsection (a), which 


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1 shall include a description of collaboration 

2 between the Secretary, other Federal enti3 ties, State, local, and Tribal entities, and 

4 foreign governments. 

5 (iii) Actions taken pursuant to sub6 section (c) that occurred between the Sec7 retary and the entities described in para8 graphs (5) through (7) of that subsection, 

9 provided that such summaries are provided 

10 only in a classified or other non-public 

11 manner. 

12 (iv) The threat landscape, including 

13 new developments related to the United 

14 States recruitment efforts of transnational 

15 criminal organizations and the use by 

16 those organizations of new or emergent 

17 covered services and recruitment methods. 

18 (B) FORM.—Each report required under 

19 subparagraph (A) shall be submitted in unclas20 sified form, but may contain a classified annex. 

21 SEC. 5. INTELLIGENCE COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

23 date on which the strategy required under section 4(a) is 

24 required to be submitted to the appropriate congressional 

25 committees, the Secretary shall identify a designee— 


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1 (1) to receive, process, and disseminate infor2 mation and communications involving the use of cov3 ered services by transnational criminal organizations 

4 or criminal enterprises acting on their behalf to re5 cruit individuals located in the United States to en6 gage in or provide support with respect to illicit ac7 tivities occurring in the United States, Mexico, or 

8 otherwise in proximity to an international boundary 

9 of the United States; and 

10 (2) to establish a mechanism, or if the designee 

11 determines appropriate, multiple mechanisms, for 

12 covered operators to voluntarily report relevant in13 formation or communications described in paragraph 

14 (1). 

15 (b) PROCEDURE.—Upon the identification of the des16 ignee and the establishment of the voluntary reporting 

17 mechanism required under subsection (a)(2), the Sec18 retary shall notify appropriate covered operators in writing 

19 regarding the voluntary reporting mechanism, including 

20 information regarding how to contact the designee and uti21 lize the voluntary reporting mechanism. 

22 (c) PLACEMENT.—The designee identified under sub23 section (a) shall be located in U.S. Customs and Border 

24 Protection. 


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1 (d) DISSEMINATION.—The designee identified under 

2 subsection (a) shall utilize the information and commu3 nications received pursuant to this section to— 

4 (1) provide Federal, State, local, and Tribal en5 tities with intelligence to assist with outreach and 

6 engagement efforts intended to preempt the commis7 sion of criminal offenses by individuals located in the 

8 United States who are targeted by transnational 

9 criminal organizations for recruitment; 

10 (2) provide Federal, State, local, and Tribal law 

11 enforcement with actionable intelligence for law en12 forcement relating to the United States recruitment 

13 efforts of transnational criminal organizations; and 

14 (3) further other appropriate government func15 tions involving efforts to prevent the recruitment of 

16 individuals located in the United States by 

17 transnational criminal organizations. 

Æ 


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