I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8838 
To prohibit agencies from taking certain action relating to social media 
companies, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 26, 2024 
Mr. CLYDE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight 
and Accountability, 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 prohibit agencies from taking certain action relating to 
social media companies, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Free Speech Defense 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The First Amendment guarantees freedoms 
concerning religion, expression, assembly, and peti-
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tion of the government. The First Amendment guar-
antees the freedom of expression by prohibiting the 
government from restricting the press or the right of 
an individual to speak freely. The First Amendment 
also guarantees the right of an individual to assem-
ble peaceably and to petition the government. 
(2) The Fourth Amendment states that each in-
dividual is secure from unreasonable searches and 
seizures of property by the government. The Fourth 
Amendment protects against arbitrary arrests, wire-
taps, and other forms of surveillance conducted with-
out a search warrant. 
(3) In July 2021, the White House press sec-
retary, Jen Psaki, admitted that the White House 
was working with social media companies to identify 
‘‘misinformation’’. 
(4) Specifically, Psaki said, ‘‘[W]e’re regularly 
making sure social media platforms are aware of the 
latest narratives, dangerous to public health that we 
and many other Americans are seeing across all of 
social and traditional media.’’ Psaki also said, ‘‘[W]e 
work to engage with them to better understand the 
enforcement of social media platform policies.’’ 
(5) 286 pages of documents produced in July 
2022 by the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
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vention, in response to a Freedom of Information 
Act request submitted by the America First Legal 
Foundation, revealed shocking information, includ-
ing the following: 
(A) The Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention sent to officials of Twitter a chart 
of tweets that the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention determined to be ‘‘misinforma-
tion’’. 
(B) The Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention held regular BOLO (Be On The 
Lookout) meetings in which the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention would share 
with social media companies, including Twitter 
and Facebook, what the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention determined to be ‘‘mis-
information’’. In the meetings, the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention would provide 
slide decks requesting, among other things, 
‘‘[p]lease do not share outside your trust and 
safety teams’’. 
(C) The Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention recommended to Twitter that infor-
mation about the Vaccine Adverse Event Re-
porting System be added to tweets. 
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(6) The Secretary of Homeland Security, 
Alejandro Mayorkas, failed to provide clear answers 
to Congress about the purpose of the Disinformation 
Governance Board and the selection of Nina 
Jankowicz to lead the Disinformation Governance 
Board. 
(7) Revealing whistleblower documents uncov-
ered by Senators Josh Hawley and Chuck Grassley 
show 
the 
shocking 
extent 
to 
which 
the 
Disinformation Governance Board was willing to spy 
on Americans, without a warrant, and flag posts for 
social 
media 
companies 
as 
so-called 
‘‘disinformation’’. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that: 
(1) The records produced by the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention in response to the 
Freedom of Information Act request described in 
section 2(5) reveal the extent to which the Biden 
Administration is willing to engage in unconstitu-
tional and otherwise unlawful activities in total dis-
regard of the rights of the American people. 
(2) Secretary Mayorkas, in congressional com-
mittee testimony, failed to provide clear answers to 
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Congress about the purpose of the Disinformation 
Governance Board. 
(3) The antidote to ‘‘misinformation’’ and 
‘‘disinformation’’ is not censorship but more infor-
mation, so the American people can make informed 
decisions independently. 
(4) The Federal Government should not be al-
lowed to circumvent the Constitution of the United 
States through intermediaries and third parties to 
violate the rights of the American people to informa-
tion and freedom from intrusion by the Federal Gov-
ernment, even if the information is not consistent 
with the views of officials in the Federal Govern-
ment. 
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION AGAINST FEDERAL REGULATION OF 
SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES. 
(a) PROHIBITION AGAINST REGULATION.— 
(1) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the head of an agency may not direct or 
encourage a social media company to— 
(A) remove or suspend a user from the so-
cial media platform of the social media com-
pany; 
(B) label content on the social media plat-
form of the social media company as informa-
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tion, disinformation, true, false, or any other 
similar characterization; or 
(C) share with the agency data or informa-
tion about a particular topic or group of users 
on the social media platform of the social media 
company, including— 
(i) the name, age, or demographic of 
the users; and 
(ii) the content such users share on 
the social media platform of the social 
media company. 
(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The prohibitions described 
in subparagraphs (A) and (C) of paragraph (1) do 
not apply to an action taken by the head of an agen-
cy— 
(A) pursuant to a warrant— 
(i) issued by a Federal court of com-
petent jurisdiction in accordance with the 
procedures described in rule 41 of the Fed-
eral Rules of Criminal Procedure; or 
(ii) issued by a State court of com-
petent jurisdiction; or 
(B) pursuant to a criminal investigation 
into, or in response to, an immediate threat to 
public safety, including— 
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(i) child exploitation; 
(ii) human trafficking; 
(iii) active streaming of a crime in 
progress or another immediate threat to 
public safety; or 
(iv) activity by a foreign terrorist or-
ganization (as designated by the Secretary 
of State, in consultation with the Secretary 
of the Treasury and the Attorney General, 
under section 219(a) of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a))). 
(b) PROHIBITION AGAINST PUBLIC-PRIVATE PART-
NERSHIPS.— 
(1) PROHIBITION.—The head of an agency may 
not enter into a public-private partnership with a so-
cial media company to monitor any content dissemi-
nated on the social media platform of the social 
media company. 
(2) EXCEPTION.—The prohibition described in 
paragraph (1) does not apply to a public-private 
partnership between an agency and a social media 
platform relating to addressing immediate threats to 
public safety. 
(3) TERMINATION
OF
EXISTING
PUBLIC-PRI-
VATE PARTNERSHIPS.—Any public-private partner-
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ship described in paragraph (1), if in existence on 
the date of the enactment of this Act, is terminated. 
(c) PROHIBITION AGAINST FEDERAL FUNDING.— 
Federal funds may not be used to fund any entity that— 
(1) classifies or facilitates the classification of 
any communication as information, misinformation, 
malinformation, disinformation, or any other similar 
designation; or 
(2) instructs, influences, directs, or recommends 
that private companies engage in any censorship, 
prohibition, or obstruction of lawful and constitu-
tionally protected speech on a social media platform, 
including by— 
(A) terminating an account of a user; 
(B) temporarily or permanently suspending 
an account of a user; 
(C) imposing a warning or strike against 
an account of a user to chill or deter future 
speech; 
(D) shadowbanning, or in any way manip-
ulating the audience or reach of, a user; 
(E) demonetizing a type of user or content; 
(F) adjusting algorithms to suppress or de- 
emphasize user-generated content; 
(G) deboosting a type of content or user; 
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(H) promoting or demoting content; 
(I) placing a warning label or explanatory 
note on any content; 
(J) suppressing content in the feed of a 
user; 
(K) promoting negative comments about a 
type of disfavored content; 
(L) requiring an additional click-through 
to access content; 
(M) deplatforming any content or user; or 
(N) any other such method. 
(d) PROHIBITION AGAINST SOLICITING OR ACCEPT-
ING FREE OR REDUCED-COST SOCIAL MEDIA ADVER-
TISING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—An agency employee acting 
in an official capacity may not solicit or accept, or 
enter into a contract or other agreement (including 
a no-cost agreement) for, free or reduced-cost adver-
tising or other promotion on the social media plat-
form of a social media company. 
(2) EXCEPTION.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The prohibition de-
scribed in paragraph (1) does not apply to an 
action taken by an agency employee to address 
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a natural disaster or another immediate threat 
to public safety. 
(B) EXCLUSION.—The exception described 
in subparagraph (A) does not include a public 
health emergency. 
(3) LIMITATION ON FUNDS.—No Federal funds 
may be obligated or expended to— 
(A) enter into a contract or other agree-
ment (including a no-cost agreement) for free 
or reduced-cost advertising or other promotion 
on behalf of the Federal Government on the so-
cial media platform of a social media company; 
or 
(B) pay the salary or expenses of any 
agency employee to solicit or accept free or re-
duced-cost advertising or other promotion on 
behalf of the Federal Government on the social 
media platform of a social media company. 
(e) ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS FOR SENIOR FEDERAL 
OFFICIALS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—No senior Federal official 
may solicit, accept, or use, in their personal capac-
ity, any advertising from a social media company 
that is provided free of charge or at a reduced rate 
or are otherwise gratuitous. 
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(2) EXCEPTION.—Except for a public health 
emergency, the prohibition described in paragraph 
(1) shall not apply in circumstances where the 
United States Government is legally authorized to 
accept free or subsidized advertising on social media 
platforms, including any instance described in sub-
section (a)(2)(B)(iii), or for public safety announce-
ments, as determined by the relevant agency head, 
in consultation with the Office of Government Eth-
ics. 
(f) PENALTIES FOR AGENCY EMPLOYEES AND SEN-
IOR FEDERAL OFFICIALS.—An agency employee or senior 
Federal official who knowingly and willfully violates sub-
section (d) or subsection (e), respectively, shall be fined 
not more than $5,000, imprisoned for not more than 2 
years, or both. 
(g) PRIVATE RIGHT
OF ACTION.—An individual 
whose account, content, or information on the social media 
platform of a social media company has been affected in 
violation of this Act may file a civil action against the 
United States in the United States District Court for the 
District of Columbia for reasonable attorneys’ fees, injunc-
tive relief, and actual damages. 
(h) REPORT.—Not later than 240 days after the date 
of the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter 
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through the tenth subsequent year, the Attorney General, 
in consultation with the Assistant Attorney General for 
Civil Rights and the Office of Special Counsel, shall sub-
mit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 
evaluating the compliance by agencies with this Act, in-
cluding a description of any action by the head of an agen-
cy to— 
(1) consult with a social media company about 
labeling content on the social media platform of the 
social media company as described in subsection 
(a)(1)(B); 
(2) consult with any third party about censor-
ship by an agency employee; or 
(3) engage in any other prohibited activity 
under this Act. 
(i) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act, or 
the application of any such provision to any person or cir-
cumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 
of this Act, and the application of such provision to any 
other person or circumstance, shall not be affected by the 
holding. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 551 of title 5, 
United States Code. 
(2) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on the Judiciary and 
the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the 
House of Representatives; and 
(B) the Committee on the Judiciary and 
the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov-
ernmental Affairs of the Senate. 
(3) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP.—The term 
‘‘public-private partnership’’ means a cooperative ar-
rangement between 1 or more agencies and an exter-
nal organization, in which the arrangement is di-
rectly involved in monitoring content for public safe-
ty purposes. 
(4) SENIOR
FEDERAL
OFFICIAL.—The term 
‘‘senior Federal official’’ means any agency em-
ployee, including any member of the uniformed serv-
ices (as that term is defined in section 101 of title 
37, United States Code), whose basic rate of pay is 
at or above the rate of basic pay for level V of the 
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Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, 
United States Code. 
(5) SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANY.—The term ‘‘social 
media company’’ means a company that provides, in 
or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, a social 
media platform. 
(6) SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM.—The term ‘‘so-
cial media platform’’— 
(A) means a website or internet medium 
that— 
(i) permits a person to become a reg-
istered user, establish an account, or create 
a profile for the purpose of allowing users 
to create, share, and view user-generated 
content through such an account or profile; 
(ii) primarily serves as a medium for 
users to interact with content generated by 
other users of the medium; and 
(iii) enables one or more users to gen-
erate content that can be viewed by other 
users of the medium; and 
(B) does not include— 
(i) an email program, email distribu-
tion 
lists, 
multi-person 
text 
message 
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groups, or a website that is primarily for 
the purpose of internet commerce; 
(ii) a private platform or messaging 
service used by an entity solely to commu-
nicate with others employed by or affiliated 
with such entity; or 
(iii) an internet-based platform whose 
primary purpose is— 
(I) to allow users to post product 
reviews, business reviews, travel infor-
mation and reviews; or 
(II) to provide news or entertain-
ment content, but that may also in-
clude a comment section for users to 
discuss such news or entertainment 
content. 
(7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 
State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 
each commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 
United States, and each federally recognized Indian 
Tribe. 
Æ 
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