(1) The freedom of speech and the press is en-
shrined in the First Amendment to the United 
States Constitution. 
(2) Free speech, the free exchange of informa-
tion, and the free expression of ideas and opinions 
are essential to the functioning of representative de-
mocracy in the United States. 
(3) The free expression and publication by jour-
nalists, academics, commentators, experts, and oth-
ers of the information they uncover and develop 
through research and study is essential to the for-
mation of sound public policy and thus to the secu-
rity of Americans. 
(4) The First Amendment jurisprudence of the 
Supreme Court, articulated in such precedents as 
New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964), 
and its progeny, reflects the fundamental value that 
Americans place on promoting the free exchange of 
ideas and information, requiring in cases involving 
public figures a demonstration of actual malice— 
that is, that allegedly defamatory, libelous, or slan-
derous statements about public figures are not mere-
ly false but made with knowledge of that falsity or 
with reckless disregard of their truth or falsity. 
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(5) Some persons are obstructing the free ex-
pression rights of Americans, and the vital interest 
of the American people in receiving information on 
matters of public importance, by first seeking out 
foreign jurisdictions that do not provide the full ex-
tent of free-speech protection that is fundamental in 
the United States and then suing Americans in such 
jurisdictions in defamation actions based on speech 
uttered or published in the United States—speech 
that is fully protected under First Amendment juris-
prudence in the United States and the laws of the 
several States and the District of Columbia. 
(6) Some of these actions are intended not only 
to suppress the free speech rights of journalists, aca-
demics, commentators, experts, and other individuals 
but to intimidate publishers and other organizations 
that might otherwise disseminate or support the 
work of those individuals with the threat of prohibi-
tive foreign lawsuits, litigation expenses, and judg-
ments that provide for money damages and other 
speech-suppressing relief. 
(7) The governments and courts of some for-
eign countries have failed to curtail this practice, 
permitting lawsuits filed by persons who are often 
not citizens of those countries, under circumstances 
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where there is often little or no basis for jurisdiction 
over the Americans against whom such suits are 
brought. 
(8) Some of the plaintiffs bringing such suits 
are intentionally and strategically refraining from 
filing their suits in the United States, even though 
the speech at issue was published in the United 
States, in order to avoid the Supreme Court’s First 
Amendment jurisprudence and frustrate the protec-
tions it affords Americans. 
(9) The Americans against whom such suits are 
brought must consequently endure the prohibitive 
expense, inconvenience, and anxiety attendant to 
being sued in foreign courts for conduct that is pro-
tected by the First Amendment, or decline to answer 
such suits and risk the entry of costly default judg-
ments that may be executed in countries other than 
the United States where those individuals travel or 
own property. 
(10) Journalists, academics, commentators, ex-
perts, and others subjected to such suits are suf-
fering concrete and profound financial and profes-
sional damage for engaging in conduct that is pro-
tected under the United States Constitution and es-
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sential to informing the American people, their rep-
resentatives, and other policy-makers. 
(11) In turn, the American people are suffering 
concrete and profound harm because they, their rep-
resentatives, and other government policymakers rely 
on the free expression of information, ideas, and 
opinions developed by responsible journalists, aca-
demics, commentators, experts, and others for the 
formulation of sound public policy, including na-
tional security policy. 
(12) The United States respects the sovereign 
right of other countries to enact their own laws re-
garding speech, and seeks only to protect the First 
Amendment rights of Americans in connection with 
speech that occurs, in whole or in part, in the 
United States. 
SEC. 3. FEDERAL CAUSE OF ACTION. 
(a) CAUSE OF ACTION.—Any United States person 
against whom a lawsuit is brought in a foreign country 
for defamation on the basis of the content of any writing, 
utterance, or other speech by that person that has been 
published, uttered, or otherwise disseminated in the 
United States may bring an action in a United States dis-
trict court specified in subsection (f) against any person 
who, or entity which, brought the foreign suit if the writ-
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ing, utterance, or other speech at issue in the foreign law-
suit does not constitute defamation under United States 
law. 
(b) JURISDICTION.—It shall be sufficient to establish 
jurisdiction over the person or entity bringing a foreign 
lawsuit described in subsection (a) that such person or en-
tity has filed the lawsuit against a United States person, 
or that such United States person has assets in the United 
States against which the claimant in the foreign action 
could execute if a judgment in the foreign lawsuit were 
awarded. 
(c) REMEDIES.— 
(1) ORDER TO BAR ENFORCEMENT AND OTHER 
INJUNCTIVE
RELIEF.—If the cause of action set 
forth in subsection (a) is established, the district 
court shall order that any foreign judgment in the 
foreign lawsuit in question may not be enforced in 
the United States, including by any Federal, State, 
or local court, and may order such other injunctive 
relief that the court considers appropriate to protect 
the right to free speech under the First Amendment 
to the United States Constitution. 
(2) DAMAGES.—In addition to the remedy 
under paragraph (1), damages may be awarded to 
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the United States person bringing the action under 
subsection (a), based on the following: 
(A) The amount of the foreign judgment. 
(B) The costs, including all legal fees, at-
tributable to the foreign lawsuit that have been 
borne by the United States person. 
(C) The harm caused to the United States 
person due to decreased opportunities to pub-
lish, conduct research, or generate funding. 
(d) TREBLE DAMAGES.—If, in an action brought 
under subsection (a), the factfinder determines by a pre-
ponderance of the evidence that the person or entity bring-
ing the foreign lawsuit at issue intentionally engaged in 
a scheme to suppress First Amendment rights by discour-
aging publishers or other media not to publish, or discour-
aging employers, contractors, donors, sponsors, or similar 
financial supporters not to employ, retain, or support, the 
research, writing, or other speech of a journalist, aca-
demic, commentator, expert, or other individual, the 
factfinder may award treble damages. 
(e) EXPEDITED DISCOVERY.—Upon the filing of an 
action under subsection (a), the court may order expedited 
discovery if the court determines, based on the allegations 
in the complaint, that the speech at issue in the foreign 
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defamation action is protected by the First Amendment 
to the United States Constitution. 
(f) VENUE.—An action under subsection (a) may be 
brought by a United States person only in a United States 
district court in which the United States person is domi-
ciled, does business, or owns real property that could be 
executed against in satisfaction of a judgment in the for-
eign defamation lawsuit giving rise to the action. 
(g) TIMING
OF
ACTION; STATUTE
OF
LIMITA-
TIONS.— 
(1) TIMING.—An action under subsection (a) 
may be commenced after the filing of the defamation 
lawsuit in a foreign country on which the action is 
based. 
(2) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—For purposes 
of section 1658(a) of title 28, United States Code, 
the cause of action under subsection (a) accrues on 
the date on which the defamation lawsuit in a for-
eign country on which the cause of action is based 
is filed. 
SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY. 
This Act applies with respect to any foreign lawsuit 
that is described in section 3(a) and is brought in the for-
eign country concerned before, on, or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
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SEC. 5. CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act limits the right of foreign liti-
gants who bring good faith defamation actions to prevail 
against journalists, academics, commentators, and others 
who have failed to adhere to standards of professionalism 
by publishing false information maliciously or recklessly. 
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) DEFAMATION.—The term ‘‘defamation’’ 
means any action for defamation, libel, slander, or 
similar claim alleging that forms of speech are false 
or have caused damage to reputation. 
(2) FOREIGN
COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘foreign 
country’’ means any country other than the United 
States. 
(3) FOREIGN JUDGMENT.—The term ‘‘foreign 
judgment’’ means any judgment of a foreign coun-
try, including the court system of a foreign country, 
that grants or denies any form of relief, including 
injunctive relief and monetary damages, in a defa-
mation action. 
(4) 
UNITED
STATES.—The 
term 
‘‘United 
States’’ means the several States, the District of Co-
lumbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or posses-
sion of the United States. 
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(5) 
UNITED
STATES
PERSON.—The 
term 
‘‘United States person’’ includes a United States cit-
izen, an alien lawfully admitted for permanent resi-
dence to the United States, and a business entity 
lawfully doing business in the United States. 
Æ 
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