Stop HATE Act of 2017

To direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to prepare and submit periodic reports to Congress on the role of telecommunications in hate crimes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Stop Harmful and Abusive Telecommunications Expression Act of 2017 Stop HATE Act of 2017 2. Reports on the role of telecommunications in hate crimes (a) Periodic reports required Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than every 5 years thereafter, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, with the assistance of the Attorney General, shall prepare and submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the role of telecommunications in violent acts and the commission of crimes of hate, as described in the Hate Crime Statistics Act ( 34 U.S.C. 41305 (b) Scope of reports A report required by subsection (a) shall— (1) analyze information on the use of telecommunications, including broadcast television and radio, cable television, public access television, computer bulletin boards, and other electronic media, to advocate and encourage violent acts and the commission of crimes of hate, as described in the Hate Crime Statistics Act ( 34 U.S.C. 41305 (2) include in the analysis required by paragraph (1) an analysis of— (A) the role that such telecommunications are playing in giving groups that advocate and encourage such violent acts and the commission of such crimes of hate a platform to spread their messages and to organize across the United States; and (B) how such use and role of telecommunications have changed due to the evolution of new forms of communication on the internet and other electronic media since the submission of the previous report under subsection (a) (or, in the case of the first report submitted under such subsection, the report submitted under section 155 of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act); and (3) include any recommendations, consistent with the First Amendment to the Constitution, that the Assistant Secretary considers appropriate and necessary to address such use and such role of telecommunications. (c) Appropriate congressional committees defined In this section, the term appropriate congressional committees (1) the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and (2) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.

Summary: Stop Harmful and Abusive Telecommunications Expression Act of 2017 or the Stop HATE Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Commerce and the Department of Justice to report about the role of telecommunications in violent acts and the commission of crimes of hate against individuals or groups of individuals on the basis of race, gender and gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, color, or national origin. The report must analyze information about the use of telecommunications to advocate and encourage violent acts and the commission of crimes of hate, including: (1) the role that such telecommunications are playing in giving groups that advocate and commit such crimes a platform to spread their messages and to organize; (2) how such use and the role of telecommunications have changed with new forms of communication on the Internet and other electronic media; and (3) any recommendations, consistent with the First Amendment, necessary to address such use and such role of telecommunications.