I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9397 
To promote global internet freedom. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 1, 2022 
Ms. SPANBERGER (for herself, Mr. STEWART, and Mr. KEATING) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To promote global internet freedom. 
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 ‘‘Internet Freedom and 
Operations Act of 2022’’ or ‘‘INFO Act of 2022’’. 
SEC. 2. GLOBAL INTERNET FREEDOM. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) More than 3,000,000,000 people use the 
internet around the world every day to access infor-
mation. 
(2) Authoritarian and repressive governments 
routinely use internet access as a means of sup-
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pressing information sharing and communications 
between people, civil society organizations, and jour-
nalists. 
(3) Following the arrest and subsequent murder 
of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, while in the 
custody of Iran’s ‘‘morality police’’, the government 
imposed severe internet and mobile network restric-
tions, in an attempt to isolate and intimidate its 
people. 
(4) Under the cover of such internet blackouts, 
the Iranian Government has intensified a brutal 
crackdown on peaceful protestors, killing hundreds 
and arresting thousands more. 
(5) Following its illegal invasion of Ukraine, the 
Russian Government has sought to restrict access to 
independent reporting and eliminate free speech by 
forcing the closure of independent press outlets and 
banning social media websites. 
(6) Under this expanding policy of state censor-
ship and surveillance, the Russian Government has 
blocked over 3,300 websites, including both social 
media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twit-
ter, as well as the BBC, Associated Press, and other 
international news outlets. 
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(7) This authoritarian abuse of technology has 
dramatically reduced access to independent informa-
tion and has increased the Kremlin’s control over 
the daily lives of the Russian people through secret 
monitoring systems designed to unmask and surveil 
government critics and democracy activists. 
(8) The United States has a commitment to 
promote and uphold a free and open internet glob-
ally. 
(9) The demand for internet freedom software, 
tools, and technology has increased exponentially in 
recent years as authoritarian regimes have pursued 
policies of censorship and surveillance. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) the United States should provide direct as-
sistance to technology and communications entities 
engaged in internet freedom programs in countries 
restricting internet access and repressing democratic 
and civil society; and 
(2) the United States should help grow the ca-
pacity of these entities to respond rapidly to censor-
ship events by supporting the development, licensing, 
and launch of platforms that enable direct internet 
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access and circumvent authoritarian governments’ 
restrictions. 
(c) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 
United States to promote internet freedom through pro-
grams of the Department of State and the United States 
Agency for International Development (referred to in this 
section as ‘‘USAID’’) that preserve and expand the inter-
net as an open, global space for freedom of expression and 
association, which shall be prioritized for countries— 
(1) whose governments restrict freedom of ex-
pression on the internet; and 
(2) that are important to the national interest 
of the United States. 
(d) PURPOSE
AND COORDINATION WITH OTHER 
PROGRAMS.—Global internet freedom programming under 
this section— 
(1) shall be coordinated with other United 
States foreign assistance programs that promote de-
mocracy and support the efforts of civil society— 
(A) to counter the development of repres-
sive internet-related laws and regulations, in-
cluding countering threats to internet freedom 
at international organizations; 
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